Gita Rani Bhuniya takes oath as MLA

Kolkata: Gita Rani Bhuniya of the Trinamool Congress on Thursday took the oath as MLA taking the party's strength to 212 in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly.

Partha Chatterjee, state minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Nirmal Ghosh, Chief Whip and Tapas Roy, Deputy Chief Whip, along with several party MLAs were present at the oath-taking ceremony. Congress MLAs did not turn up at the function.

Gita Rani Bhuniya has become an MLA from Sabang Assembly constituency in West Midnapore. The by-election was held on December 21 after the seat fell vacant following the joining of her husband Manas Bhuniya in Trinamool.

Sabang has voted for a Trinamool candidate for the first time. During the Left Front regime, Manas Bhuniya was elected from the seat thrice. In 2016 Assembly elections, there was alliance between the Congress and CPI(M) and Bhuniya had defeated the Trinamool Congress.

Gita Rani got 1.06 lakh votes while her nearest CPI(M) rival Rita Mondol got 41, 987 votes. Antara Bhattacharya of the BJP secured the third position and bagged 37,473 votes. Chiranjib Bhowmick of the Congress secured 18,060 votes.

The election has once again proved that people in Bengal have become pro-development. After Mamata Banerjee took over as the Chief Minister in 2011, there has been comprehensive development of the rural areas in Bengal. In Sabang, development has taken place in the past six years.