Trinamool Congress swept the bypolls in West Bengal , retaining five seats and wresting Madarihat from the Bharatiya Janata Party, further cementing its political dominance in the state, even as the ongoing protests over the RG Kar incident failed to sway voters.
The BJP which ran a negative campaign using the RG Kar incident to target West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also flopped miserably as it could not win any seat. TMC tally in 294 Assembly stands at 219 while BJP from 77 has come down to 66.
The bypolls 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.
These bypolls held on November 13 were seen as a crucial test for the ruling party amid a politically charged atmosphere, with protests over the RG Kar issue intensifying.
Despite the urban anti-establishment protests, the TMC emerged victorious across the board, in both rural and urban areas, continuing its winning streak in 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
Not just BJP, TMC also beat its INDIA bloc allies, including the Left Front and Congress, with such huge victory margins in the Haroa and Sitai seats that all the opposition candidates lost their security deposits.
Five of the six constituencies are located in South Bengal, a TMC stronghold, while Madarihat is in the north, which the BJP had won in 2021.
Reacting to the party’s win, TMC Rajya Sabha M , Sagarika Ghose tweeted on X
You don’t get leaders like @MamataOfficial anymore in India. She’s one of the last great leaders of people, as we had in the 70s & 80s. Rooted with people 24*7, rushing to stand with the needy, steadfast and fearless. #MamataBanerjee should be India’s second woman PM after…
— Sagarika Ghose (@sagarikaghose) November 23, 2024
