In the Madarihat (Scheduled Tribe) seat, which was the only seat held by the BJP among the six, TMC candidate Jayprakash Toppo won by 30,309 votes, defeating his nearest rival Rahul Lohar of the BJP.
The BJP had won the seat in 2021 with a margin of 29,685 votes.
The Madarihat seat in Alipurduar district, which was previously held by the BJP, fell vacant after its MLA Manoj Tigga resigned, to become a Member of Parliament from Alipurduar, following which bypoll was necessitated.
The bypolls on November 13 were held in six constituencies — Naihati, Haroa, Medinipur, Taldangra, Sitai (SC), and Madarihat (ST) — following the resignation of MLAs who had vacated their Assembly seats after securing victories in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. There were a total of seven candidates in the fray to be elected as the next Madarihat MLA.
Disappointed with the party’s performance, BJP leader and former Union Minister of State John Barla said that “overconfidence” led to the loss. He emphasised the importance of involving local leaders and understanding the ground report, particularly in regards to tea plantation workers who felt neglected.
“It is the result of over confidence and pride. Not involving anyone, not keeping any contact with the tea garden leader. If you operate everything from Kolkata it cannot work like that. One should also know the ground report. Tea plantation workers were not given any importance,” Barla claimed.
“Money and police force were all on their side. Even then we gave a good fight,” BJP leader Manoj Tigga claimed.
BJP leader Agnimitra Pal said, “Our workers are threatened in that area. Under such an environment, not many wanted to actively participate. Also it is bypolls… People feel they cannot remove the Mamata Banerjee government so what is the use of voting?”
Before the bypolls, the Trinamool Congress state general secretary Kunal Ghosh had claimed that the result would be 6-0. According to sources in the TMC, several factors such as Cha Sundari, Lakshmi Bhandar scheme, ration system, schools, roads, drinking water and other government projects worked in the party’s favour.
“Mamata Banerjee’s schemes and the BJP’s lies one after another contributed to their loss. People have voted in large numbers in favour of the TMC. Many claim that it is bypolls so voters were less in number, but it is not true in Bengal’s case. People have come and voted in favour of Mamata Banerjee for her development work,” said TMC leader Jay Prakash Majumdar.
In the 2021 Assembly polls, the TMC had lost this seat by 29,000 votes. In the last Lok Sabha polls, the BJP was ahead in Madarihat by just 11,000 votes. The victory margin this time has surpassed both the Assembly and Parliamentary elections.