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BJP Makes a Debut in Mamata Banerjee's West Bengal
For the BJP, which had to cede space to the Congress in Gujarat and Rajasthan, here's some cheering news. The party has finally managed to open an account in Mamata Banerjee's West Bengal, with the Basirhat Dakshin seat.
But it has lost its key target - the prestigious Chowringhee in Kolkata, which the Trinamool Congress has managed to retain.
The BJP's victory in smalltown Basirhat is also a comment on party chief Amit Shah's new gambit of attacking the Trinamool Congress on the Saradha Ponzi scam, which has badly hit the state's rural poor.
The Basirhat seat was won by CPI(M)'s Narayan Mukhopadhyay in 2011. The by-election was caused due to his death.
The victory, though with a narrow margin, comes as a shot in the arm for the BJP, which is looking to carve out a niche in Bengal. The outcome has set up the party for the municipal elections in Kolkata next year and the assembly polls in 2016.
Chowringhee was won by Nayana Bandyopadhyay, wife of Sudip Bandyopadhyay, leader of the Trinamool Congress parliamentary party. She beat BJP state secretary and spokesman Ritesh Tiwary.
The seat was won by Sikha Mitra of Trinamool Congress in the 2011 assembly elections. The by-election was held as the seat fell vacant after Mitra's resignation from the party.
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