WB bypoll results out today
KOLKATA: Bypolls to two seats in West Bengal have turned into a prestige fight between the ruling Trinamool Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party, as both sides eagerly wait for the results on Monday.
A loss in either seat for the beleaguered TMC would mean the party had been sabotaged and trigger defection, sources said, as it battled the fallout of the `25,000 crore Saradha scam that wiped out life savings of thousands of small investors in Bengal, Assam and Odisha. State panchayat minister Subrata Mukherjee appeared confident of winning both the Bongaon Lok Sabha and Krishnaganj assembly constituency that went to the polls on Friday. “We will win both the seats without any hesitation,” he said.
When asked if supporters of party general secretary Mukul Roy — who was recently sidelined by CM Mamata Banerjee — could sabotage the elections, Mukherjee shot back, “No individual can control votes.”
The BJP, too, is keen to win at least one seat to prove the recent drubbing at the hands of the Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi has had no impact. “We will win the bypolls. Those who are saying the Delhi effect will fall on other states are daydreaming. By that logic, our win in Jharkhand should have resulted in a victory in Delhi,” said Sidharth Nath Singh, BJP national secretary and Bengal observer. The results may have an impact on upcoming civic polls in 81 municipalities and corporations, experts said. The state is scheduled to go to the polls next year.
AN IMPACT ON UPCOMING CIVIC POLLS IN 81 MUNICIPALITIES AND CORPORATIONS