The stage is set for bypolls in six Assembly seats in West Bengal with both the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Bharatiya Janata Party announcing candidates.
Elections to six Assembly seats — Naihati, Haroa, Medinipur, Taldangra, Sitai (SC) and Madarihat (ST) — will be held on November 13. Five constituencies are located in south Bengal and Madarihat is the only constituency located in north Bengal.
The TMC fielded Sangita Roy from Sitai in Cooch Behar district, Jay Prakash Toppo from Madarihat in Alipurduar, Sanat Dey from Naihati, Sk Rabiul Islam from Haroa in North 24 Parganas, Falguni Singhababu from Taldangra in Bankura, and Sujoy Hazra from Medinipur in Paschim Medinipur district. The BJP had nominated Rupak Mitra for Naihati, Bimal Das for Haroa, Rahul Lohar for Madarihat, Subhajit Roy for Medinipur, Ananya Roy Chakraborty for Taldangra and Dipak Kumar Roy for Sitai.
The last time when the polls were held in 2021, the TMC had won all the five Assembly seats in south Bengal and the BJP had won the Madarihat seat in north Bengal. The byelections have been necessitated after the MLAs from these constituencies contested and won the Lok Sabha polls and resigned from the Assembly.
Trinamool’s claim
The Trinamool leadership claimed that it has offered ticket to candidates from various castes, communities, religions, and genders. “By selecting candidates from such diverse backgrounds, the party seeks to further strengthen its message of secularism, equality and empowerment, which has been a central theme in its governance and political campaigns,” a TMC source said.
The BJP leadership expects that the anger among the people over the rape and murder of a doctor at R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital will tilt the balance in its favour.
Political observers also feel that the bypolls will test the impact of raging protests over the R.G. Kar issue on the electoral prospects of the Trinamool Congress. The State’s ruling party had won almost all the Assembly bypolls in the State since 2021, except Sagardighi, where Left parties-supported Congress candidate had defeated the TMC candidate in February 2023. The Congress MLA from Sagardighi, Bayron Biswas, joined the TMC weeks after his victory. Earlier this year in June, the TMC swept bypolls in four Assembly seats in West Bengal, even winning seats in Matua-dominated regions considered stronghold of the BJP.
The Left Front and the Congress have not announced candidates for the byelections so far.
Published - October 20, 2024 04:58 pm IST
