Kolkata : The BJP Tuesday asserted it has come up as an alternative in West Bengal and exuded confidence of doing well in the 2016 state polls after winning the Basirhat South assembly by-election.
BJP’s Samik Bhattacharya scraped past Trinamool Congress and former Indian football captain Dipendu Biswas by 1,586 votes to enter the assembly, thereby emulating Badal Bhattacharya who had won the Ashoknagar seat in 1999 — also in a by-election — to become the party’s first MLA in the state.
“The results are not only a reflection of people’s discontent for the Trinamool Congress and its lack of governance but also about BJP coming up as an alternative,” state BJP president Rahul Sinha told the media.
The Sep 13 bypoll was also held in Chowringhee where Trinamool’s Nayna Bandopadhyay defeated BJP’s Ritesh Tiwari by 14,344 votes and helped the ruling party retain the seat.
Chowringhee went to the hustings after the resignation of Trinamool legislator Sikha Mitra, who won the 2011 election but quit the party while the death of CPI-M member Narayan Mukherjee necessitated the poll in Basirhat South.
Sinha however, blamed Trinamool’s intimidating tactics and divisive politics for its loss in Chowringhee while hailing Bhattacharya’s victory.
Bhattacharya said: “…On paper, Left Front may be the main opposition, but the people have now given the certificate that the mantle of opposition actually lies with the BJP.”
His view were echoed by BJP national secretary S.N. Singh who said the party was now gearing up for the 2016 assembly polls.
The ruling party refused to read much into BJP’s victory.
Party general secretary Mukul Roy said: “The bypoll results across the country have now proved that within 100 days of its coming to power, the BJP has been losing people’s faith in it. The Narendra Modi magic has faded away. Despite the smear campaign by the media and our rivals, people continue to repose faith in party chief Mamata Banerjee and the Trinamool.”
He asserted his party will claim more than two-thirds majority in the 2016 assembly polls.
The Congress which fared poorly in both the seats, claimed the end of Trinamool has begun.
State Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said: “I hope the ruling Trinamool Congress can see that the signs are ominous for it. Both Basirhat South and Chowringhee bypoll results indicate that time has now come for the Trinamool to lose.”