BJP pulls ahead of TMC in 4 out of 8 by-poll seats

Kolkata: As the results of the polls came out on Thursday, BJP pulled ahead of Trinamool Congress in four out of eight seats in the by-elections, followed by the ruling party in three seats.

The seats fell vacant after six MLAs from Bhatpara, Habibpur (ST), Darjeeling, Kandi, Nawada and Islampur seats resigned and contested in the Lok Sabha election, while in two seats the MLAs HA Safwi and Satyajit Biswas died.

Madan Mitra of Trinamool Congress was defeated by Pawan Singh of BJP in Bhatpara Assembly. The seat fell vacant after Arjun Singh joined BJP and contested in the Lok Sabha election.

Mitra was a minister in the Mamata Banerjee cabinet in 2011. He resigned following his involvement in the multi-crore Saradha chit fund scam. He subsequently contested from the Kamarhati seat in the 2016 Assembly poll and was defeated.

There was violence on May 19, the day of by-polls. Mitra could not enter several areas and his car was attacked. He is currently trailing behind his BJP opponent by over 10,000 votes.

In the Darjeeling seat, Niraj Tamang Zimba of BJP is leading ahead of his TrInamool Congress-backed Independent candidate Binay Tamang, chairman of the Gorkha Territorial Administration (GTA).

BJP is also leading in the Krishnagunj seat. The seat fell vacant after sitting MLA Satyajit Biswas was murdered in February. BJP candidate Ashish Kumar Biswas is leading by over 9,000 votes in the seat.

Abdul Karim Chowdhury of Trinamool Congress is leading by over 16,558 votes in Islampur. The seat fell vacant after Trinamool Congress MLA Kanaialal Agarwal resigned and contested from the Raigunj Lok Sabha seat.

Idris Ali, the former Trinamool MP from Basirhat who contested from the Uluberia (East) seat, is leading by over 16,778 votes.

In Nawada, Trinamool Congress candidate Salima Mumtaz Begum is leading. The seat fell vacant after Congress MLA Abu Taher Khan joined Trinamool Congress and contested from the Murshidabad seat. In Kandi, Congress is leading by a margin of over 5,000 votes.

Till Thursday evening, BJP was seen leading in four seats, with Trinamool Congress in three and Congress in one.