KOLKATA: Trinamool Congress's 6-0 clean sweep in bypolls has partly helped it to stem the loss of the urban vote-bank earlier this year.
The party's win in 29 Lok Sabha seats this June with a 45.7% margin had a troubling footnote: BJP had taken leads in nearly 90 urban assembly segments, including Naihati, Haroa and Midnapore, which went to bypolls on Nov 13. The all-win result on Saturday showed TMC was healing from this haemorrhage.
Heading into the polls, TMC was edgy as the opposition BJP, Left and Congress made the RG Kar incident a poll issue. Kunal Ghosh, the party's former Rajya Sabha MP, made no bones about it in his post-result presser.
"RG Kar is a gruesome, horrific crime. There can be no two ways about it. It has pained us too. We want an expedited trial. But what we saw instead is how a sentiment against a horrific crime and its perpetrator was used for political gains. And along with it came a barrage of social media-driven falsehoods, canards and lies. People called it out. Trinamool only believes in people's well-being and if there are any errors and mistakes on the way, we are also the ones to quickly rectify it," Ghosh said.
Asked about Bengal BJP president Sukanta Majumdar's statement that BJP would do well in the 2026 assembly polls, Ghosh retorted: "I think that is a wrong goal post. It's actually 3026. Till then, they will have to keep dreaming of dislodging Trinamool from office."
"The Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool works for people's development. There was a time when Lakshmir Bhandar was mocked (by the opposition), some even called the beneficiaries beggars. The same BJP has replicated this, first in Madhya Pradesh and now in Maharashtra. One needs to understand why Mamata Banerjee conceptualised Lakshmir Bhandar amid the Covid gloom. The vibrancy it brought, both socially and economically. What Bengal does today, BJP does it day after tomorrow," he added.
Along with TMC's sweep in all six bypolls, also came its first-ever election victory in Madarihat. Alipurduar has stoically remained with BJP from 2016, along with vast swathes of north Bengal.
TMC general secretary Abhishek Banerjee also referred to this in his statement and said: "A special thanks to the people of Madarihat for giving us the opportunity to serve you for the first time."
Amid statements by BJP netas who chose to water down the scale and impact of TMC's Madarihat victory, Ghosh said: "Why doesn't BJP say the same thing about their bypoll wins, say for example, in Uttar Pradesh? At the end of the day, results speak louder than words. Since 2021, BJP has lost every election it fought in Bengal. Let that sink in first."
Stay updated with the latest news on Times of India. Don't miss daily games like Crossword, Sudoku, and Mini Crossword.
Start a Conversation
Post comment