TMC sweeps Bengal bypolls, BJP makes impressive gains

The ruling Trinamool Congress on Thursday retained the Uluberia Lok Sabha seat and snatched Noapara assembly constituency from the Congress, winning both the West Bengal byelections by a huge margin.

Trinamool’s Sajda Ahmed won the Uluberia seat beating her nearest rival, BJP’s Anupam Mallik, by a margin of 4.74 lakh votes. In Noapara, Trinamool’s Sunil Singh got 63,018 votes more than his nearest rival Sandip Banerjee of the BJP.

“People have voted overwhelmingly in favour of the wave of development unleashed by chief minister Mamata Banerjee,” Trinamool secretary general Partha Chatterjee said.

The outcome proved that the BJP was the only alternative to the Trinamool as the CPI(M) and the Congress were non-existent, BJP’s national secretary Rahul Sinha said. “The results will only improve with time,” he said.

The bypolls come a few months ahead of local polls in rural areas, which are being seen as a precursor to the 2019 Lok

KOLKATA:

TMC CPI(M) BJP Cong 13 5.6 19 20.76 43 42 Sabha election. BJP president Amit Shah is keen to bag at least half of the 44 seats that Bengal offers. The BJP increased its vote share in both the constituencies. It won 2.93 lakh votes in Uluberia, 1.60 lakh more than in 2014. In Noapara, it got 15,132 votes more than it did in the 2016 assembly poll.

The CPI(M), which ruled the state for 33 years before being TMC CPI(M) BJP 10.9 12 31 23.3 48 61.73 voted out in 2011, finished third. Both the Trinamool and the BJP seemed to have gained at the expense of the sharp decline in Left votes. The Congress finished fourth in both the constituencies. The results may rekindle debate on the CPI (M)’s recent decision to not ally with the Congress. Had the two parties joined hand, they could have finished second in Noapara.