Babul Supriyo, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) turncoat, won the Ballygunge assembly bypoll in West Bengal on Saturday on a Trinamool Congress ticket, defeating his nearest rival of the CPI(M) Saira Shah Halim by a margin of 20,228 votes. Supriyo secured 51,199 votes against Halim's 30,971 votes.
Interestingly, Halim has overtaken BJP's Keya Ghosh who bagged just 13,220 votes, thus lending some credence to the communist party's claim that it was on a revival path.
Kamruzzaman Choudhury of the Congress bagged 5,218 votes.
"Didi (Mamata Banerjee) guided us to work at grassroots levels. I dedicate my win to CM Mamata Banerjee and Ma-Mati-Manush. BJP's position shows the effect of fuel price hike," said Supriyo.
He added that the election outcome is a "slap" on the BJP. "The Opposition stooped very low during the campaign. This result is a 'tamacha' (slap) on the BJP for the way they demean Bengalis. This trend is the result of the hard work of TMC workers," the TMC leader said.
Meanwhile, TMC workers and supporters celebrated the tunes of drumbeats in Asansol as the party's Shatrughan Sinha won in a bypoll to the Asansol Lok Sabha seat against BJP's Agnimitra Paul.
Also Read | Shatrughan Sinha breaks Asansol jinx: Why it's a historic win for Trinamool
{{/usCountry}}Also Read | Shatrughan Sinha breaks Asansol jinx: Why it's a historic win for Trinamool
{{/usCountry}}"There were some shortcomings from our end because of which we had to face defeat. The public's verdict will be accepted. Few cases of rigging were seen at some places but central forces worked really well. We will work at grassroots levels in the forthcoming days," news agency ANI quoted Paul as saying.
Chief minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee thanked voters from the Asansol Lok Sabha seat and Ballygunge Assembly Constituency for giving a decisive mandate to TMC candidates in both the seats, where by-polls were held.
"I sincerely thank the electors of the Asansol Parliamentary Constituency and the Ballygunge Assembly Constituency for giving decisive mandate to AITC party candidates," she tweeted.
"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," she added.
Reacting to Supriyo's win from Ballygunge, she said, "Babul Supriyo's victory in Ballygunge was predictable, Keya Ghosh has put up a big fight. We urge Police, administration, and the Election Commission to keep a check on violence in the state. Post-poll violence should not take place in West Bengal."
The bypoll for the Asansol Lok Sabha seat was necessitated after Supriyo resigned from the lower House after quitting the BJP. He later joined the TMC. The Ballygunge Assembly seat bypoll was necessitated after the demise of state Minister Subrata Mukherjee.