Massive victory for TMC’s Haji Nurul Islam in Basirhat, wins by over 3L votes

Kolkata: With Trinamool Congress’ (TMC) candidate in Basirhat Lok Sabha Constituency, Haji Nurul Islam, securing a resounding victory, the BJP’s unyielding and fervent crusade against the ruling party in Bengal over the contentious Sandeshkhali issue, proved fruitless in reaping any political rewards for the saffron camp. Islam won by an impressive margin of 3,33,547 votes.

Trinamool supremo Mamata Banerjee while addressing the media on Tuesday afternoon said she salutes the people of Sandeshkhali. She said that BJP carried out a relentless campaign in Basirhat to malign her party but the people of Basirhat favoured the ruling party. “I salute the people of Sandeshkhali as they have showered their blessings on us,” Banerjee said.

Sandeshkhali, the epicentre of the fierce electoral clash between the TMC and the BJP, appears to have shattered the aspirations of BJP candidate Rekha Patra in Basirhat. She has been decisively outmanoeuvred by Islam, who leads with a formidable vote margin of 2,74,758, having garnered approximately 5,97,116 votes. The alleged incidents of sexual atrocities on the local women and land-grab issue in Sandeshkhali, one of the seven Assembly segments of Basirhat, failed to make any impression on the voters as they cast their votes for the development schemes run by the Mamata Banerjee government.

BJP went to the polls in Basirhat relying upon a narrative of ‘women safety’ while the TMC had highlighted how the social development schemes especially the ‘Lakshmir Bhandar’ had brought a significant change in the lives of the women. The ruling party in Bengal also focused on how the BJP-led government at the Centre deprived Bengal by stopping funds under various government schemes. Political observers believe that ‘Lakshmir Bhandar’ played the role of a secret weapon for TMC. Rekha Patra from the BJP party spearheaded the Sandeshkhali movement and therefore in turn got the ticket. She hogged the national spotlight overnight after PM Modi, called her up after her nomination was announced and addressed her as ‘Shakti Swaroopa.’

The BJP hoped to make a strong political impact in the Basirhat but Haji Nurul, a son of the soil came out to be victorious. Basirhat, where slightly over 54 per cent of the population is Muslim, has traditionally been a TMC stronghold. The constituency has an estimated Scheduled Caste population of 25 per cent and an estimated Scheduled Tribe population of 7 per cent, according to the latest relevant Delimitation Commission report.

In the 2019 general elections, TMC candidate Nusrat Jahan received 54.56 per cent of the total votes. TMC won the Basirhat seat for three consecutive terms since 2009.