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BJP fields wife of Pulwama fallen hero for Bengal bypolls, TMC objects
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has fielded the wife of a CRPF jawan who died in the Pulwama terror attack in 2019, for the upcoming bypoll in West Bengal
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has fielded the wife of a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawan, who was killed in the 2019 Pulwama terror attack, for the upcoming bypoll in West Bengal.
Read here: TMC panchayat seat winner shot dead in Bengal district
Polling in Dhupguri assembly seat in north Bengal’s Jalpaiguri district is scheduled to be held on September 5 and the result will be announced on September 8. The seat fell vacant following the demise of sitting BJP MLA Bishnu Pada Roy on July 25.
The seat is reserved for the Scheduled Caste community and all parties have fielded members of the local Rajbangshi community that constitutes a sizeable section of the region’s population.
Jagannath Roy, husband of BJP nominee Tapasi Roy, was among 40 CRPF jawans who were killed after a suicide bomber rammed his explosive-laden car into a CRPF convoy in Pulwama on February 14, 2019. Pakistan-based terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammed had claimed responsibility for the attack.
The TMC has fielded Nirmal Chandra Roy, a history professor at Dhupguri Girls College, for the election.
In 2021, Bishnu Pada Roy defeated Trinamool Congress (TMC) candidate Mitali Roy by around 4,000 votes.
The ruling TMC hit out at the BJP for trying to politicise the Pulwama attack.
“The loss of lives at Pulwama has been used by the BJP several times for political gains. It helped BJP win the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. It is so wrong to link national security and sacrifice of our soldiers to politics. No other party has ever played this kind of dirty politics,” TMC state vice-president Jay Prakash Majumdar said.
Read here: Wife of CRPF jawan killed in Pulwama attack is BJP candidate for Bengal bypoll
Hitting back, state BJP chief spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya said: “Suspecting the role of the army and using defamatory language in reference to our security forces are part of TMC’s culture. Both the Left and the TMC treat the army as a professional force instead of respecting it as a nationalist organisation. The TMC has insulted the armed forces once again today by making such a statement.”
Tapasi Roy could not be contacted for a comment despite several efforts by HT.
