Kaliganj Bypoll: Despite Loss, BJP Claims Highest-Ever Hindu Vote Share With Rising 'Hindutva Consciousness'

Despite losing the Kaliganj bypoll, BJP's Amit Malviya claimed a record high Hindu vote share due to rising Hindutva consciousness and backlash against Murshidabad riots.

File Photo of BJP's co-incharge for West Bengal, Amit Malviya

Source : PTI

New Delhi, Jun 23 (PTI) Undeterred by its loss in the Kaliganj Assembly bypoll in West Bengal, the BJP claimed on Monday that it received its highest-ever share of Hindu votes in the constituency due to a rising "Hindutva consciousness" and the backlash against the Murshidabad riots.

In a post on X, BJP's co-incharge for the state Amit Malviya rebutted Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's assertion that the Trinamool Congress (TMC) candidate, who won the contest, received "support from people of all religions and castes".

Citing certain data, Malviya said, "The truth: Mamata Banerjee's TMC is surviving on a captive vote bank of Muslims, illegal Bangladeshi infiltrators and radical elements. Just like they dumped the Left, Hindus of Bengal have dumped Mamata." The TMC supremo is peddling another lie, he alleged.

The Assembly election in the state next year will not be a bypoll but a "full-blown revolution", Malviya said.

In Kaliganj, he said, Hindus are 43 per cent of the voters and Muslims the rest, and cited the voting trend to assert that the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) share of Hindu votes was 70 per cent in 2021, 72 per cent in 2024 (Lok Sabha polls) and the highest ever at more than 74 per cent this time.

Malviya, who heads the BJP's IT department, also slammed Banerjee over the death of a young girl in a bomb explosion in Kaliganj. He alleged that bombs were hurled during the TMC's victory celebrations.

"This is the blood price of Mamata Banerjee's violent, vote-bank-driven politics. West Bengal has no law and order left," he said.

Noting that Banerjee also holds the home portfolio in the state, Malviya claimed that she has failed spectacularly as an administrator.

"Worse, she fuels radicalised politics to polarise and retain her Muslim vote bank -- only for innocent children like Tamanna to pay with their lives. This is not governance. This is criminal neglect," he alleged.

Slamming the suspension of four BJP MLAs from the state Assembly for disrupting the proceedings, Malviya claimed that the state is witnessing an "undeclared Emergency".

"This isn't governance. This is authoritarian panic. Mamata Banerjee is on her last leg as Chief Minister, and the TMC's draconian tactics reveal just how nervous they are about losing ground," he said.

TMC candidate Alifa Ahmed won the bypoll, the results of which were declared on Monday, by a convincing margin of 50,049 votes over her nearest BJP rival, Ashish Ghosh, bettering the 2021 winning margin of her father, Nasiruddin Ahmed, whose death in February had necessitated the election.

Banerjee said, "People of all religions, castes, races and walks of life in the area have blessed us immensely by exercising their right to vote in the Kaliganj Assembly bypoll. I humbly express my gratitude to them. The main architects of this victory are 'Maa, Mati, and Manush'," in a reference to her party's slogan. 

(This report has been published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. Apart from the headline, no editing has been done in the copy by ABP Live.)