Six assembly seats in West Bengal to go on by-polls tomorrow
The bypolls were necessitated in all the six seats after the sitting legislators contested in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls and won
Theby-elections in six assembly seats in West Bengal are scheduled to be held on Wednesday. The results are likely to be announced on November 23.
This comes at a time when the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) has been facing stiff protests over the RG Kar Hospital rape and murder and allegations of corruption and nepotism over deciding beneficiaries of financial assistance from the government to build pucca houses under the Banglar Awaas Yojana (BAY).
By-polls would be held in Sitai, Madarihat, Naihati, Haroa, Medinipur and Taldangra. The bypolls were necessitated in all the six seats after the sitting legislators contested in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls and won.
In the 2021 assembly elections the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Manoj Tigga had won the Madarihat assembly, reserved for Scheduled Tribes. He won the Alipurduar Lok Sabha seat in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
The remaining five were clinched by the ruling TMC in the 2021 assembly elections. Sitai in Cooch Behar is reserved for Scheduled Castes. It was won by Jagadish Chandra Barma Basunia in 2021 who was elected MP from Coochbehar defeating former Union minister (MOS) Nisith Pramanik.
Partha Bhowmick, former state transport minister, who won from Naihati in 2021, won the Barrackpore Lok Sabha seat defeating BJP heavyweight leader Arjun Singh.
Haji Sk Nurul Islam who was the TMC’s legislator from Haroa won the Basirhat Lok Sabha seat. He died in September this year. Actor-turned-politician June Maliah, the TMC legislator from Medinipur, won the Medinipur Lok Sabha seat. Arup Chakraborty, the TMC legislator from Taldangra, won the Bankura Lok Sabha seat this year.
Experts see this by-polls as a litmus test for the TMC, which bagged 29 seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls while the BJP’s tally was 12.
Both the ruling TMC and the opposition BJP have fielded candidates for all six seats. This time, the Left Front has fielded candidates for five of the six seats. The Congress under new state party chief Suvankar Sarkar has fielded candidates in all six seats.