The TMC increased its winning margin in all the six seats that saw byelections. This comes despite the criticism faced by the Mamata Banerjee-led state government after the R G Kar rape-murder case, apart from allegations of corruption.
“Our winning margin and vote percentage have both increased. Organisation is a two-way street. On the one hand, there should be effective leadership, pro-people policies and earnest workers. On the other hand, the people should have trust in the party, its leaders and workers. The Trinamool Congress has maintained this. Meanwhile,the opposition, including the BJP, is losing its connection with the people in Bengal,” the TMC’s state vice president and spokesperson Jayprakash Majumdar said on Saturday.
“In addition to this, nine factors worked in our favour. R G Kar (case) was a social issue and people hit the streets in protest. The first remedial step was taken by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to address the issue. The people saw that and trusted Mamata Banerjee. That is why we did well in the two urban seats of Naihati and Medinipur,” added Majumder.
Meanwhile, Dilip Ghosh, one of the BJP’s national vice presidents, told mediapersons “The results do not come as a surprise. The TMC knows how to do polling. They employ goons and take help from the police and the administration. However we will also have to think how we can recover from this and prepare for the assembly polls in 2026. But I expected a fight in Madarihat.”
In the 2021 Assembly polls, the two north Bengal seats of Sitai and Madarihat were won by the TMC and the BJP respectively.
In the Sitai bypoll this time, TMC candidate Sangita Roy won by 1,30,156 votes. In the same Assembly segment during the Lok Sabha polls, the TMC had secured victory by 29,000 votes.
In Madarihat, which was the only seat held by BJP among all the six, TMC candidate Jayprakash Toppo won by 30,309 votes. The BJP won the seat in 2021 assembly polls with a margin of 29685. In Lok Sabha polls this year BJP maintained its lead at 9000 votes.
In South Bengal as well, the TMC did well in terms of winning margin.
TMC candidate Sanat Dey doubled the winning margin compared to 2021, winning by 48,912 votes in Naihati. In the 2021 Assembly polls, the winning margin for the TMC was 18,855.
Here, in the Lok Sabha polls, the TMC got a lead of 15,000 votes from the seat.
TMC candidate Rabiul Islam won by 1,31,388 votes in the Haroa Assembly seat. In 2021, the margin was 80,978. In this Lok Sabha, the TMC got a lead of 1,10,000 votes.
TMC candidate Falguni Singhababu won by 33,456 votes in Taldangra Assembly seat. The winning margin in 2021 was 12,377. The TMC’s lead in Lok Sabha was 8,000.
In Medinipur, TMC candidate Sujoy Hazra won by 33,190 votes. The winning margin in 2021 was 24,397 votes. In the Lok Sabha polls, the TMC got a lead of 11,000 votes.