Shankharavh Sarkar won by 75,816 votes in Rejinagar
BJP retained Nandigram after candidate Hasirani Rath won the bypoll by a record margin of 1,22,753 votes. The chief minister’s victory margin in Nandigram in the April assembly polls was 9,665 votes. The decisive win followed the chief minister’s intense campaigning in the East Midnapore seat on Oct 4 and three campaign visits there in the run-up to the bypoll.
Kolkata: BJP retained Nandigram — chief minister Suvendu Adhikari’s backyard — and wrested Rejinagar from AJUP, winning both assembly bypolls in the first electoral test since coming to office in May this year. The bypoll was necessitated by Adhikari’s decision to vacate the seat in favour of Bhabanipur.
Congress candidate Milan Pradhan, who finished second with the backing of Mamata Trinamool, spent 11 days in police custody over FIRs lodged 19 years ago. Addressing reporters at Nabanna in the afternoon, he said, “The margin (in Rejinagar) could not have been so large had 35,000 Muslim mothers and sisters, along with their families, not voted for us. We received 60% of the Muslim votes in Rejinagar and 80% in Nandigram. Chowdhury, who polled 3,847 votes, finished fourth, behind BJP, AJUP and Congress. The only consolation for Mamata Trinamool was that its breakaway faction, led by Ritabrata Banerjee, got even fewer votes — 2,044.
Mamata Trinamool candidate Rabiul Alam Chowdhury had announced his withdrawal from the contest, saying, “It is becoming increasingly difficult for me to motivate workers, who have been facing regular harassment. The majority of the votes we polled in Rejinagar came from minorities. Bengali-speaking Muslims are voting for BJP. Like Nandigram, Rejinagar witnessed its share of drama. Failing to secure our party symbol — flowers and grass — and adopting a new symbol allotted by Election Commission will prove to be a major challenge in the bypoll. He subsequently reversed his decision and contested on the ‘football player’ symbol. It was a mockery of democracy — intimidation by motorbike gangs, booth capturing and fake voting carried out with police support. We demand that both bypolls be scrapped and fresh elections held.”
State Congress president Subhankar Sarkar echoed her allegations: “Today’s by-election results and the related events make one thing clear: had the voting been free and fair, BJP would have lost both seats.
He said the minorities want to join the mainstream and stand by govt. They were earlier told that if BJP came to power, they would be sent to Bangladesh, detention camps would be set up for them and their religious freedom would be curbed. “They responded to my call for ‘Friendship Day’. All these claims have been proved false over the past five months.”