Bengal Assembly by-polls: TMC wins Kaliaganj and Kharagpur seats, surges in Karimpur

Many saw TMC’s victory in assembly by-polls as a victory for the party’s election strategist Prashant Kishor who emphasised on door-to-door campaign and local issues.

Bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC)defeated the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the Kaliaganj assembly seat in North Dinajpur district in north Bengal and Kharagpur Sadar in West Midnapore district, winning both for the first time, in the by-election held on November 25.

Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee said the victory of TMC in assembly by-polls was a proof of people’s faith in the party. (AP File)

At 12.40 pm on Thursday, the trend in counting of votes made it clear that TMC was all set to win the Karimpur seat in Nadia district as well. Many saw it as a victory for the party’s election strategist Prashant Kishor who emphasised on door-to-door campaign and local issues.

“This is proof of people’s faith in us. People have voted against BJP because the party they voted for at the national level are not asking them to prove that they are Indian citizens,” said chief minister Mamata Banerjee.

For the BJP, this was a humiliating position because Kharagpur is part of the Lok Sabha constituency where the party’s state president Dilip Ghosh had won a few moths ago. BJP had a margin of 45,000 votes in this assembly segment. Ghosh’s election agent Prem Chand Jha was the candidate for the assembly seat. While campaigning for Jha, who faces some criminal cases, Ghosh had said voters should consider that it was he who was the candidate.