New Delhi: Despite losing the electoral battle against West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in Bhabanipur, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Priyanka Tibrewal on Sunday said she is ‘man of the match’ of this game because she got more than 25,000 votes in the contest in the Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo’s stronghold.
Tibrewal said she will continue doing the hard work for development of West Bengal.
READ: Bhabanipur By-Poll: Mamata Banerjee Secures CM Chair With A Thumping Victory Of Over 58K Votes
“I am ‘man of the match’ of this game because I contested the election in Mamata Banerjee's stronghold and got more than 25,000 votes. I will continue doing the hard work,” she said, ANI reported.
Meanwhile, the TMC supremo secured her position as the chief minister of West Bengal winning the by-poll to Bhabanipur seat by a margin of 58,832 votes.
Banerjee after claiming victory thanked the people of Bhabanipur for giving her such a huge mandate.
She also lashed out at her opponents, particularly the BJP, and said “it is a victory against the conspiracy that was hatched to defeat me from Nandigram”.
“Since the elections started in Bengal, the Central government hatched conspiracies to remove us (from power),” Banerjee said.
“I am grateful to the public for voting for us and to the ECI for conducting polls within six months,” she added.
Banerjee, who lost the election in Nandigram to protégé-turned-rival Suvendu Adhikari of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), had to win this by-poll to retain her post.
The Bhabanipur by-poll had become a prestige battle for Banerjee, who has to become a member of the state legislature by November 5.
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The voting in Bhabanipur on September 30 witnessed a modest turnout of 53.32 percent.
The by-poll was held in Bhabanipur along with the elections to two seats Samserganj and Jangipur in Murshidabad district where polling could not be held during the eight-phase assembly polls earlier this year.