Assembly bypolls: BJP fields Sajal Ghosh from Baranagar; Bhaskar Sarkar from Bhagawangola

Kolkata: The BJP on Tuesday announced the name of its party candidates for two Assembly seats in Bengal which are headed for by-elections set to be held on June 1.

KMC councillor Sajal Ghosh will contest from Baranagar seat which fell vacant after former TMC MLA from the seat Tapas Roy resigned from his post. Commenting on his chances of victory from the seat, Ghosh said he learnt politics from Tapas Roy when they were both in Congress. Roy has now joined the BJP and will be contesting from Kolkata North constituency.

“I always practiced politics under Tapas da who is my political mentor. I will fight from Baranagar with his blessings and direction. I am confident of my victory...” Ghosh said.

Citing reasons categorically as to what will work in his favour, Ghosh said the ‘Modi wave’ will be a big factor in this Lok Sabha polls. “I will reach out to every person in the constituency and visit their homes,” he said.

Since 1977, the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP), an ally in the Left Front bloc, had been winning the seat until Roy became an MLA in 2011 and went on to be re-elected three times.

In the Bhagawangola seat in Murshidabad, the party has fielded a local BJP worker Bhaskar Sarkar. The seat fell vacant after the TMC MLA Idris Ali passed away last month. The seat is scheduled to go for by-elections on May 7.