A 22 % surge in the vote share of the Bharatiya Janata Party [BJP] in the Assembly by-poll in Purba Medinipur district and a 24 % drop in the share of the Left has perturbed the chief of the Trinamool Congress [TMC], Mamata Banerjee.
She has acknowledged that a “transfer [of] votes” is taking place from the Left to the BJP. While the TMC has won the by-election in Kanthi Dakshin [South] by a margin of over 42,000 votes, BJP’s share has gone up from a little over 15,000 votes in the 2016 Assembly elections to nearly 53,000.
“I do not think about all these – when ‘Ram’ (BJP) will become ‘Baam’ (Left) and ‘Baam’ will be ‘Ram’. I have said earlier that the BJP and the CPI(M) have an understanding. They transfer votes among each other. The Congress, CPI(M) and BJP – they all do that…We do not indulge in such politics,” Ms. Banerjee said on Thursday.
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She appealed to her cadres to “be polite” and to work closely with the people.
In the 2016 Assembly polls the Congress and the Left were in an alliance and bagged the second spot with about 60,000 votes [34.21 %] in Kanthi. It has come down to 10.21 % in 2017.
The TMC’s share has gone up marginally from 53.71% to 55.89%, which also is “formidable” in a four-cornered fight, analysts said.
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Even senior Left Front leaders have admitted that those who were with the Left have switched allegiance to the BJP in this election.
“A section of those who were with the Left movement have now joined the BJP,” Left Front chairperson Biman Bose said on Friday commenting on the bypoll results.