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'Our people's gift…': Mamata Banerjee thanks voters as TMC nears big bypoll wins
Bengal bypolls: Trinamool Congress is set to pick up both seats thanks to ex-BJP recruits Shatrughan Sinha and Babul Supriyo.
Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has thanked voters for what are set to be resounding victories in by-polls to the Asansol Lok Sabha seat and Ballygunge assembly constituency. The ruling Trinamool is set to pick up both seats thanks to ex-BJP recruits.
"I sincerely thank the electors of the Asansol parliamentary constituency and the Ballygunge assembly constituency for giving decisive mandate to AITC party candidates," the chief minister 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 said.
Former union minister Babul Supriyo is almost certain of beating the CPI(M)'s Saira Shah Halim to the Ballygunge seat. Supriyo, who quit the BJP after the party suffered an emphatic defeat in last year's Bengal assembly election, joined the Trinamool in September.
As of 1.30 pm he has over 33,000 votes. His CPI(M) rival has around 25,500. The BJP, which has fielded Keya Ghosh, is a distant third with less than 5,500 votes. The Congress' Kamruzzaman Choudhury has around 4,500 votes.
Actor-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha holds a commanding lead over the BJP's Agnimitra Paul in Asansol. Sinha has nearly 4.7 lakh votes as of 1.30 pm. His BJP rival is well behind with less than 2.7 lakh votes. The CPI(M)'s Partha Chatterjee is third with less than 63,000 votes.
Sinha is a two-time Lok Sabha MP from Bihar's Patna Sahib seat - which he won while on a BJP ticket. This will be his first electoral victory since he quit the BJP and joined the Congress just before the 2019 Lok Sabha election.
He was fielded from Patna Sahib but lost by a massive margin to former colleague Ravi Shankar Prasad, who secured over six lakh votes. Sinha joined the Trinamool in March and hailed Mamata Banerjee as the 'tigress of Bengal'.
Aided by master poll strategist Prashant Kishor, Mamata Banerjee recorded a statement win over the BJP in last year's assembly election, the campaigning for which was marred by vicious rhetoric from both sides.
