For the first time in more than a decade Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has won an Assembly seat in Bengal. The BJP candidate Sameek Bhattacharya has defeated his nearest rival, Dipendu Biswas of All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) by a narrow margin in Basirhat Dakshin (South) constituency in North 24 Paraganas District.
Mr Bhattacharya will be the only BJP legislator in the 294 member State Assembly.
AITC candidate Nayna Banerjee has won the prestigious Chowringhee seat in south-central Kolkata defeating BJP and Congress in a triangular contest. Ms Banerjee – wife of AITC parliamentarian, Sudeep Banerjee – got 12,000 votes more than her nearest rival of BJP.
ADVERTISEMENT
However, both results are yet to be officially announced.
Initial trends
All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) was leading in both constituencies in Bashirhat Dakshin and Chowringhee after first seven rounds of counting in Assembly by polls. While in Basirhat the party is leading by about 10,000 votes, in Chowringhee the lead is relatively less and fluctuating. However, half of the rounds are yet to be counted. The fate of nine and five candidates will be decided in Chowringhee and Bashirhat Dakshin respectively. The polling percentage in Chowringhee in South-Central Kolkata, which has little over two lakh voters, was about 47.13 percent in the last Lok Sabha election. Bashirhat Dakshin in North 24 Parganas, which has nearly 2.5 lakh voters, polled nearly 80% votes.
ADVERTISEMENT
The by-elections are significant as they come at a time when several leaders of the AITC are being questioned by the CBI for their alleged role in the Saradha scam. Observers of Bengal's politics feel, the by-election will establish, if the financial scam has affected the vote base of AITC in South-Central Kolkata or North 24 Paragans. Both these areas are considered to be AITC stronghold.
On the other hand, a victory of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), in any one of the constituencies, will ensure a seat for the party in the State Assembly, which has not seen a BJP legislator in the Assembly in last couple of decades. Buoyed by its performance in the State in the last general elections, where it recorded its best ever performance in Bengal, the (BJP) has made the Saradha scam the main issue in its campaign.
PTI adds:
Trinamool’s Nayana Bandyopadhyay, wife of Sudip Bandyopadhyay, leader of the Trinamool Congress parliamentary party, was ahead of Ritesh Tiwary, BJP state secretary and spokesman, by 1000 votes in the prestigious Chowringhee seat in the heart of the city after the first round of counting.
Chowringhee seat was won by Sikha Mitra of Trinamool Congress in the 2011 Assembly elections. The by-election fell due after the resignation of Ms. Mitra from TMC.
Trinamool has fielded Nayana Bandyopadhyay, wife of the leader of the Trinamool Congress Parliamentary Party Sudip Bandyopadhyay, from the Chowringhee Assembly segment.
BJP, which has emerged as a major contender this time has put up its state secretary and spokesman Ritesh Tiwari from the Chowringhee seat.
Santosh Pathak is the Congress candidate and Faiyaz Ahmed Khan is the CPI(M) nominee from the seat.
Basirhat Dakshin Assembly seat was won by CPI(M)’s Narayan Mukhopadhyay in 2011. The by-election was caused due to his death.
Like Chowringhee, TMC, BJP, Congress and CPI(M) have fielded their candidates in the Basirhat Dakshin seat.
Former Indian soccer captain Dipendu Biswas is the Trinamool candidate while BJP has fielded Samik Bhattacharya, who had contested the last Lok Sabha polls on a BJP ticket from Basirhat LS seat.
Asit Majumder and Mrinal Chakrabarty are contesting from Basirhat Dakshin as Congress and CPI(M) candidates respectively.