The by-elections in West Bengal were held in Sitai, Madarihat, Naihati, Haroa, Medinipur, and Taldangra constituencies on November 13 and the counting of the votes will take place on November 23.
Sporadic incidents of violence, including the death of a local Trinamool Congress worker in a shootout-cum-crude bomb attack were reported on the day of the polls, while the voter turnout across six constituencies stood at 69.29 per cent till 5 pm.
The ruling TMC in West Bengal had won in five of the seats in the 2021 assembly polls - Taldangra, Sitai-SC, Naihati, Haroa and Medinipur.
The Madarihat seat is a BJP bastion.
For the first time since 2021, the CPI (M)-led Left Front and Congress are competing separately due to a recent change in the Bengal Congress leadership. This time, the Left Front has fielded candidates for five of the six seats, including one CPI(ML) nominee. The Congress under new state party chief Suvankar Sarkar has fielded candidates in all six seats.
The bypolls will also serve as a litmus test for the TMC, which emerged victorious in the Lok Sabha elections just four months ago. The party had bagged 29 parliamentary seats, up from 22 in 2019, while the BJP’s tally was down from 18 to 12.
The brutal rape and murder of a female doctor in Kolkata's RG Kar Medical College and Hospital led to outpouring of protests across the state and several people pointed fingers at the TMC-matriarch and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's government for 'protecting' the accused in the crime for their links with the party. The CBI is still investigating the matter and officially no one linked with TMC has been accused of being involved with the case yet.
The case send shock waves throughout the country and these bypolls come at a crucial time in the political landscape of Bengal.
West Bengal Bypoll Seats & Candidates | Facts
The bypolls in West Bengal were necessitated following the resignations of MLAs who were elected to the Lok Sabha in the general elections this year.
Sitai - The bypoll was needed after TMC MLA Jagadish Chandra Barma Basunia became an MP from Cooch Behar earlier this year nd resigned from Sitai seat. TMC fielded Sangita Roy who is contesting for Sitai seat against Congress Harihar Roy Singha, Forward Bloc's Arun Kumar Barma and BJP's Dipak Kumar Roy.
Madarihat - This seat fell vacant earlier this year afterwhen BJP MLA Manoj Tigga quit after winning the Lok Sabha seat Alipurduars. BJP fielded Rahul Lohar against TMC's Jay Prakash Toppo, Congress's Bikash Champro Mary and RSP's Padam Oraon.
Naihati - TMC's Partha Bhowmick resigned as Naihati MLA this year after he became MP from Barrackpore Lok Sabha constituency. Sanat Dey was filed by TMC and he will contest against Congress candidate Paresh Nath Sarkar, CPI(ML)'s Debajyoti Mazumdar and BJP's Rupak Mitra.
Haroa - Islam Sk Nurul (haji) was Haroa MLA until he contested Lok Sabha polls from Basirhat constituency and won. The vacant seat is being contested by TMC's Sk Rabiul Islam against Congress' Habib Reza Chowdhury and Bimal Das from BJP.
Medinipur - Actress June Malia was the Medinipur MLA from TMC and she also contested in Lok Sabha polls this year and won in the Midnapore seat leading to this seat's vacancy. TMC fielded Sujoy Hazra from Medinipur, Congress fielded Shyamal Kumar Ghosh and others fighting for the seat are CPI's Mani Kuntal Khamrui and BJP's Subhajit Roy.
Taldangra - Taldangra is a TMC stronghold where Arup Chakraborty was an MLA from but he recently won the Bankura Lok Sabha seat in 2024. The candidates for this vacant seat are TMC's Falguni Singhababu, Congress Tusharkanti Sannigrahi, CPI(M)'s Debkanti Mahanti and BJP's Ananya Roy Chakraborty.
