TMC MP Basunia’s wife Sangita pitted against BJP’s Deepak Roy
Cooch Behar: The Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have announced their candidates for the upcoming by-election in the Sitai Assembly Constituency.
TMC has nominated Sangita Roy, the wife of current Sitai Panchayat Samiti Chairman and MP Jagadish Chandra Barma Basunia.
The BJP has fielded Deepak Kumar Roy as its candidate, who had contested in the last Assembly elections.
In the 2021 Assembly elections, Deepak Kumar Roy lost to Jagadish Chandra Barma Basunia by approximately ten thousand votes.
Despite this defeat, the BJP has reiterated its confidence in Roy for this by-election. Both candidates have expressed optimism about their chances of victory. In the 2021 elections, the TMC candidate secured a win over Deepak Kumar Roy by a margin exceeding ten thousand votes. Following the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, in which Jagdish Chandra Barma Basunia was elected an MP as a TMC candidate, a by-election was necessitated for the Sitai Assembly seat.
Deepak Kumar Roy, who has contested elections three times previously without success, stated: “The party has expressed confidence in me again. The current situation is different. If the voting is done peacefully, I believe the people will vote in our favour.”
His political journey includes running as a Forward Bloc candidate in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections and again in the 2016 Assembly elections, both of which ended in defeat. He joined the BJP in 2021, where he was nominated as a candidate but again lost to the TMC. Sangita Roy’s nomination by the TMC reflects the party’s confidence in her political background. Having served as a village Panchayat Pradhan and currently holding the position of Sitai Panchayat Samiti president, she brings significant experience to her candidacy.
Additionally, as the wife of the current MP, the importance of securing this seat is underscored. Expressing her gratitude, Sangita Roy said: “I am very happy that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has declared me as the candidate. I am committed to serving the people of Sitai.”
