Dhupguri Bypoll Result: TMC Wrests Seat From BJP In Rajbanshi Citadel

Dhupguri Bypoll Result: By-election to the Dhupguri seat in Jalpaiguri district was held following the death of sitting BJP MLA Bishu Pada Ray earlier this year.

The Trinamool Congress wrested the Dhupguri Assembly seat from the BJP, with its candidate Nirmal Chandra Roy winning it by a margin of over 4,500 seats. By-election to the Dhupguri seat in Jalpaiguri district was held following the death of sitting BJP MLA Bishu Pada Ray earlier this year.

While BJP took lead in the initial rounds, Trinamool came from behind to win the seat in the Rajbanshi land. 

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said the result showed that North Bengal was with the TMC. "In Dhupguri, it was a seat of BJP and we won the election. I congratulate all the people of Dhupguri. So wherever BJP lost and INDIA party won, I congratulate all of them," ANI quoted Banerjee as saying.

"The Dhupguri (bypoll) result shows that people of Bengal are with Mamata Banerjee," TMC spokesperson Riju Dutta told PTI.

An SC-reserved seat, Dhupguri has nearly 50 per cent Rajbanshi and 15 per cent minority population. To tap into the Rajbanshi votes, all major parties had fielded candidates from the community.

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Nirmal Chandra Roy of TMC is a professor at Dhupguri Girls College and belongs to the Rajbanshi community. BJP had fielded Tapasi Roy, the widow of a CRPF jawan killed in a terrorist attack in J&K in 2021. The CPI(M) had fielded folk singer Ishwar Chandra Roy and Congress had backed him.

In the 2021 Bengal Assembly polls, the BJP got 45.65 per cent votes and TMC got 43.75 per cent. BJP's Bishnu Pada Roy defeated Trinamool Congress' sitting MLA Mitali Roy by a margin of 4,355 votes. On neing denied re-nomination in the recent bypolls, Mitali Roy switched to BJP earlier this week.

The signs were visible in the recently concluded Bengal panchayat elections where TMC won a majority of gram panchayats in Dhupguri. The BJP had alleged that the TMC won the polls by "looting vote".

During campaigning, BJP and TMC were involved in a heated exchange of words after Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari claimed CM Mamata Banerjee "insulted" the Rajbanshi community. However, the TMC supremo accused BJP of "deliberately misinterpreting" her remarks to "inject hatred".

The counting for the Dhupgiri bypoll was held amid tight security at the Jalpaiguri II campus of North Bengal University. The polling was held on September 5 and a high voter turnout of 78 per cent was recorded.