The Trinamool Congress (TMC) Saturday won the Asansol Lok Sabha constituency for the first time since the party’s formation in 1998 and retained the Ballygunge Assembly constituency, making a clean sweep in West Bengal bypolls.
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In Asansol, former Union minister turned TMC candidate Shatrughan Sinha emerged victorious by a massive margin of 3,03,209 votes while BJP MLA turned party candidate Agnimitra Paul came second. Sinha bagged 6,56,358 votes while Paul got 3,53,149 votes.
While TMC got 56.6 per cent vote share, BJP got 30.4 per cent vote share. CPM finished at a distant third place after getting 7.8 per cent votes. In the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha polls, BJP candidate Babul Supriyo had won from the Asansol seat.
In Ballygunge, Supriyo, now a TMC candidate, won the Assembly constituency in south Kolkata by a margin of 20,228 votes. The CPM here stood second while the BJP emerged a distant third. Out of the total votes polled, Supriyo bagged 51,199 votes while CPM candidate Saira Shah Halim got 30,971 votes. BJP candidate Keya Ghosh received 13,220 votes and lost her deposit.
In Ballygunge, TMC got 49.7 per cent vote share, while CPM and BJP received 30.1 per cent and 12.8 per cent votes, respectively. Meanwhile, Congress stood fourth in both the seats and its candidates lost their deposits.
TMC supremo and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee thanked the people of both the constituencies for giving her party the mandate. “I sincerely thank the electors of the Asansol Parliamentary Constituency and the Ballygunge Assembly Constituency for giving decisive mandate to AITC party candidates. We consider this to be our people’s warm Shubho Nababarsho gift to our Ma- Mati- Manush organization. Salute to the voters for reposing faith in us, yet again,” said Banerjee in tweets.
TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee took to Twitter too and said, “Thank you ASANSOL & BALLYGUNGE for taking a step towards an INDIA that is free from the hate-mongers and the oppressors! With your blessings and love, we promise to deliver. Your well-being has always been our PRIORITY and it’s only going to get better from here.”
After his victory, Sinha said, “The credit for this victory goes to Mamata Banerjee, her party and the people of Asansol. It is because of the common man that I could take this challenge. I will work for the people with utmost honesty and sincerity.”
BJP candidate Agnimitra Paul said, “Seeing this result, we should focus on 2024 the Lok Sabha polls and start our preparation from now. Of course, there will be violence from the TMC in every election but we have to strengthen the organisation and reach out to the people as well. I accept the verdict of the people.”
Later, she apologised to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for failing to win the Parliamentary seat. “Sorry @narendramodi Sir.. I tried my best but couldn’t give you this seat…. My war is to save Democracy in West Bengal. Democracy has been murdered in West Bengal. My war is on Sir,” she said in a tweet.
Following the defeat, BJP’s tally of Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal has now come down to 17. The saffron camp had won 18 seats in Bengal in 2019.
Supriyo, after his electoral victory, said, “I dedicate this win to TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee. She brought me back into politics and allowed me to contest the bypoll from the prestigious Ballygunge constituency. This victory is also dedicated to the Maa, Mati, Manush and countless workers of the TMC. CPM and BJP had indulged in a smear campaign against me in the run up to the election. This victory will come as a befitting reply to their politics. This is a poetic justice for me and also for our Asansol candidate Shatrughan Sinha.”
Meanwhile, CPM candidate Saira Shah Halim said the Left has become the primary Opposition to the TMC. “Our vote share has increased exponentially. People have proved that the Left is the only alternative to the TMC,” said Halim.
BJP candidate Keya Ghosh said, “Definitely this is not the result which we expected. People have voted for the TMC and the CPM. We will definitely introspect why we got this kind of result.”
State BJP president Sukanta Majumdar said, “TMC is losing the minority votes which was evident in Ballygunge. This has gone to CPM and Congress. We will definitely look into this result.”
Amidst sporadic incidents of violence, about 53 per cent polling was recorded in the bypolls to the Asansol Lok Sabha and the Ballygunge Assembly constituencies on Tuesday.
The Asansol seat had fallen vacant after former Union minister Babul Supriyo resigned as the BJP Member of Parliament from the seat. He was made the TMC candidate from the Ballygunge Assembly constituency in Kolkata, which had fallen vacant after the demise of former state minister and veteran party leader Subrata Mukherjee in November last year.
Babul Supriyo and Shatrughan Sinha. (File Photos) 
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