Mamata TMC seeks opposition unity for Rejinagar bypoll to ‘protect booths’

Mamata TMC has called for opposition unity in the Rejinagar bypoll, urging Congress and CPI(M) leaders to help protect polling booths and voters’ rights.

Kolkata:

Mamata TMC seeks opposition unity for the October 6 Rejinagar bypoll, with Kunal Ghosh urging Congress and Left parties to protect booths and voters’ rights.

The Mamata All India Trinamool Congress has called for opposition unity for the October 6 assembly bypoll in Murshidabad district’s Rejinagar, saying they must stop Bengal’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party from attempting to capture polling booths.

“We did not form an alliance with the Congress and CPI(M). The opposition votes might get divided but the responsibility to protect the polling booths and the right of voters lies with all,” Mamata TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh told the media.

The state’s former ruling party’s invitation to the Congress and the Left comes as they express solidarity with the Cockroach Janata Party movement demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar following controversy over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in several states.

All parties geared up on Sunday for the last phase of campaigning at Rejinagar and East Midnapore’s Nandigram. The results for the two bypolls will be announced on October 9.

With 66.27% Muslims according to the 2011 census, Murshidabad has the highest minority community population in Bengal. Muslims comprise more than 60% of the Rejinagar voters.

Rejinagar is one of the seven assembly segments in the Berhampore Lok Sabha seat that former state Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury won five times in a row between 1999 and 2019 before being defeated by then TMC candidate Yusuf Pathan.

“I have been talking about opposition unity since a long time. All voters have democratic rights but booth agents of opposition parties are often driven by ruling party workers. This happened in the past as well. I urge Trinamool supporters to vote for the Congress in the coming election,” Chowdhury told the media in Murshidabad.

CPI(M) state committee member Sujan Chakraborty supported Chowdhury.

“We have always asked people to unite against the BJP’s attempts to curb democratic rights of voters,” Chakraborty said.

Bengal BJP’s chief spokesperson Debjit Sarkar dismissed the allegations against his party.

“Trinamool, Congress and the CPI(M) are virtually non-existent in Bengal. They formed the INDIA coalition but people voted for the BJP in this state. These parties are saying these things because they know that they cannot win the Rejinagar seat,” Sarkar said.

In the April state polls, the BJP won 207 of Bengal’s 294 seats against the TMC’s 80 and secured one more seat, Falta, in a repoll held in May. The CPI(M) and the Indian Secular Front (ISF) each won one seat in April, while the Congress secured two.

On June 3, the assembly speaker recognised as many as 58 rebel TMC legislators led by Ritabrata Banerjee as the principal opposition party in the House. Mamata Banerjee approached the Supreme Court, which referred the matter to the EC. Mamata Banerjee’s party was renamed Mamata All India Trinamool Congress and allotted the football player symbol on September 18, while the rival group got the name Democratic Trinamool Congress. The envelope symbol was allotted for the new party.

The bypolls are being held because both seats were won by candidates who retained another seat.

In April, suspended TMC legislator Humayun Kabir won from Nowda and Rejinagar for his newly launched Aam Janata Unnayan Party but retained Nowda.

Then leader of the opposition, Suvendu Adhikari, won from his traditional seat, Nandigram, and also defeated Mamata Banerjee at her Bhabanipur seat. After being sworn in as chief minister, he decided to represent Kolkata’s Bhabanipur.