Bagdah:Trinamool’s weekend gift: Four out of four. After the Lok Sabha, a green surge is now also seen in the assembly by-elections in the four constituencies. Trinamool candidates won by huge margins in Bagda, Ranaghat South, Raiganj, and Maniktala. The BJP has faced a major setback. As in the Lok Sabha polls, the Left has become virtually irrelevant in the assembly by-elections as well. The Congress couldn’t make a mark either. In Raiganj, the Congress campaigned using the sentiment associated with the late Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi, but even there, they were on the backfoot.
The most notable aspect is that the BJP once secured victories in Ranaghat South and Bagda by leveraging the Matua vote bank. However, the by-election results clearly demonstrate a significant shift of the Matua community away from the saffron camp. The BJP’s substantial defeat in Bagda has cast doubt on the leadership of Union Minister and Bongaon MP Shantanu Thakur. In contrast, Madhuparna Thakur, the daughter of Trinamool Rajya Sabha MP Mamata Bala Thakur is a newcomer to politics, achieved a remarkable victory by decisively winning the crucial Bagda seat in her first election.
Political analysts have highlighted this achievement as particularly noteworthy. This constituency, once held by the Trinamool Congress, had been lost but has now been reclaimed by them after 13 years.
On the other hand, Trinamool leadership was confident of victory in Maniktala from the beginning. Supti Pandey, the wife of Sadhan Pandey and the Trinamool candidate, campaigned vigorously in Sadhan Pandey’s stronghold. She was supported by their daughter, Shreya Pandey. Trinamool won this constituency by a substantial margin.
This is the 10th victory of a member of the Pandey family being elected as an Assembly member. Sadhan Pandey had won nine times, and the seat became vacant following his death. In the by-election, Trinamool nominated Supti Pandey, Sadhan Pandey’s wife and a college friend of Trinamool Supremo Mamata Banerjee. Supti Pandey entered the fray as a candidate and fought the election. On the day of her mother’s victory, Shreya expressed her joy, saying, “A green storm has swept Maniktala. My father’s presence can be sensed in this joy. The Trinamool workers in this constituency were groomed by my father. I must salute their hard work during the election.
This victory is a triumph of the Ma-Mati-Manush.”
On the other hand, even before the election results were announced, Trinamool candidate Supti Pandey jeered at her opponent, Kalyan Chaubey, the BJP candidate in Maniktala, saying, “The gentleman contests every election and loses each time. Honestly, it feels bad.” As she said this, the Trinamool workers standing beside her sneered. However, Kalyan Chaubey, the BJP candidate in Maniktala, claimed that no genuine voting took place in Maniktala. He asserted that there was widespread rigging. He said that a review of the CCTV footage would make it clear, alleging that votes were stolen at gunpoint.
In Raiganj, Trinamool’s victory is particularly significant. Just a few days ago, there was a Lok Sabha election where Trinamool’s candidate Krishna Kalyani was defeated. BJP won. In the Lok Sabha election, Krishna lagged behind with nearly 47 thousand votes. However, despite trailing by so many votes, in the assembly by-election, Krishna Kalyani has secured victory with 49,536 votes. BJP candidate Manas Ghosh was defeated. Congress-CPM alliance candidate Mohit Sengupta has also been left behind. After winning, Krishna Kalyani said, “The electorate have cast their votes by keeping development in mind. I am grateful to the people.” In this context, in the Lok Sabha election, Trinamool candidate Krishna Kalyani lost to Kartik Pal of BJP. After that, Trinamool nominated him again in the Raiganj Assembly by-election. In 2021, Krishna Kalyani won by nearly 21 thousand votes from Raiganj Assembly. But then he was from BJP’s Candidature. Later he joined Trinamool.
In Bagda, the situation was almost similar. In the recent Lok Sabha elections, Trinamool lagged behind by nearly 20,000 votes in the Bagda Assembly. The victory in the Assembly by-election, for Trinamool leadership was quite challenging. Besides, Trinamool had not seen the face of victory in Bagda for a long time. In 2016, Dulal Bar won the center for the Congress-CPM coalition. Then in 2021, Bishwajit Das won from the BJP’s ticket from Bagda.
Later he resigned from BJP and joined Trinamool. This time, Bishwajit was the candidate from TMC in the Lok Sabha poll. As a result, he resigned from the post of MLA. This post became vacant, so the by-election was conducted. Like Raiganj and Ranaghat South, in Bagda the Trinamool leadership wanted to nominate Bishwajit Das, who lost in the prior Loksabha Elections. But Bishwajit Das refused to get nominated as a candidate. Hence the leadership chose Madhuparna Thakur as the face of the new generation. All the citizens of Bagda kept high hopes on her.
After his defeat, on Saturday, Bagda’s BJP candidate Binay Biswas said, “If the voting had been fair, we would have won. We couldn’t win due to rigging. Trinamool supporters were seen chanting ‘Joy Bangla’ slogans upon seeing the BJP candidate coming out of the counting center. This created excitement. A massive police force managed the situation.
The BJP candidate from Bagda was escorted out of the counting center.”
In Ranaghat South, after Trinamool candidate Mukutmani Adhikari exceeded a lead of 36 thousand votes, BJP candidate Manoj Kumar Biswas came out of the counting center. Trinamool supporters chanted ‘Joy Bangla’ slogans surrounding him. Finally, he was escorted out of the counting center by the police
In the upcoming assembly elections, Mamata Bala Thakur’s daughter and member of the Matua family, Madhuparna Thakur, is set to contest as the youngest legislator. She made her debut in the political arena at the age of 25. After 13 years, she successfully led Trinamool’s comeback in the Bagda constituency center.
In the Bagda constituency center, Trinamool has emerged victorious. Trinamool Congress candidate Madhuparna Thakur won by 33,455 votes.She has created a stir in Bagda after 2011 as after 13 years she successfully won from this constituency. She became the youngest legislator and made everyone spellbound.
In Ranaghat South, Trinamool has also emerged victorious. Mukutmani Adhikari, who switched from BJP to Trinamool, has won by nearly 38,000 votes. The BJP candidate in this constituency was Manoj Kumar Biswas. Similarly, in Raiganj, Trinamool’s Krishna Kalyani has won by 50,777 votes. The BJP candidate in this center was Manas Kumar Ghosh. Interestingly, in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Krishna Kalyani lost in Raiganj. However, Mamata Banerjee had placed her trust in him. This time, her trust was upheld. Nonetheless, in the 2021 legislative elections, he won in Raiganj on a BJP ticket. Furthermore, the ruling party has also made significant gains in Maniktala with a surplus of votes. Trinamool workers and supporters are jubilant with this triumphant victory.
After the victory, Krishna Kalyani has said, “People have chosen development. Grateful.” According to Mukutmani, “BJP doesn’t think about ordinary people. They don’t think about the plight of the people left behind. That’s why this is their situation.” According to Madhuparna, “I have visited every household. People understand that Didi stands by everyone. She is the torchbearer of development.”
In Maniktala, Trinamool won with over 62,000 votes. Securing victory in Maniktala, Trinamool leader Kunal Ghosh took a dig at BJP, stating, “I will send as many rosogollas to Kalyan Chaube’s house as the number of votes he loses by. The people of Bengal are living better lives now than during the leftist’s tenure. They have no faith in BJP. They admit their mistakes. That’s why people have faith.” Mukutmani Adhikari of Trinamool won in the Ranaghat South Assembly constituency center with 39,048 votes.
