TMC leader Kunal Ghosh said, “The BJP’s IT cell should make Suvendu listen to his own words that he spoke in the past. Maybe then, he might stop talking nonsense.” “All our candidates have won against BJP’s conspiracy to malign our government. People have voted in favour of (CM) Mamata Banerjee’s development work. All six candidates have won by large margins. The TMC’s responsibility has increased further.
The R G Kar incident was very unfortunate. We also wanted that culprits should face stern action but the way a false narrative was being created with the intention to malign our government…They (BJP) played with people’s emotions. But eventually voters understood that an incident took place and the TMC did all it could to ensure a free and fair probe. People rejected the BJP’s false narrative,” said Ghosh.
BJP leaders, meanwhile, pointed out that bypoll results are generally in favour of the rulling government in the state, with Adhikari reiterating that BJP was not that concerned about the bypolls on these six Assembly seats and that the party’s target is the 2026 Assembly elections.
For that purpose, he emphasised that the focus is on “election-oriented organisation” and “movement-oriented front” since not much time is remaining.
Adhikari, however, said that the BJP would not be able to win from Haroa even in the 2026 elections. “We have never won in Haroa and are unlikely to win in future either,” he said.
He also pointed out that Direct transfer of money through schemes impacts voters.
“Direct benefit transfers have definitely yielded positive results (for the TMC). Apart from minority votes, Mamata Banerjee is also getting votes to some extent because of direct transfer schemes in the past few elections. But in this process of rolling out welfare schemes, it should also be ensured that the state does not go bankrupt,” said Adhikari.
“Naihati, Medinipur, Taldanga and Madarihat will be won in 2026. The poll result now is not an issue at all. I think the focus should be to protest against this government which is knee-deep in corruption,” Adhikari added.
Senior BJP leader Dilip Ghosh said the party had hopes from the Madirhat seat. “We have often seen that bypoll results are not against the ruling party. That’s what we have seen here as well. The ruling party gets the bulk of the votes. We had hope in Madarihat… we put up a good fight but lost. It is their police, government. Here out of fear, many do not go and vote. When I went to Sitai, people kept asking me whether they would be able to vote? Some within any party might have differences but one should understand that party’s interest is paramount,” he said.