TMC wins Raiganj seat by a margin of over 50K votes

Raiganj: Krishna Kalyani of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) emerged victorious, defeating Manas Kumar Ghosh of BJP by a margin of 50,077 votes in the Raiganj Assembly by-elections.

While Krishna Kalyani secured 86,479 votes, Ghosh got 36,402 votes and Mohit Sengupta of Congress obtained 23,116 votes.

This is the first time a TMC candidate has won from the Raiganj Assembly Constituency. The TMC camp broke out into jubilation with the results being declared.

“In the Parliamentary elections, I was defeated because BJP had misguided the voters on the Sandeshkhali issue. After my defeat, I worked on the drawbacks. I met the people of my Constituency with an appeal to vote for TMC for the sake of development. I was successful in convincing them that if TMC wins it would mean more development,” remarked Kalyani.

He continued: “Different social welfare projects introduced by the state government, including Laxmir Bhandar and Kanyashree, facilitated the victory of the TMC this election. My first and foremost duty is to work on the traffic problem faced by Raiganj town along with water logging issues. We will also ensure other developmental activities. I attribute my victory to all district TMC leaders and activists who have worked hard for days.”

In the 2021 Assembly elections, Krishna Kalyani contested from Raiganj seat as the BJP candidate. He had defeated Kanaiyalal Agarwal of TMC with a margin of 20,748 votes. However, after a few months, Krishna Kalyani crossed over to the TMC.

In 2024, he contested the Lok Sabha election from the Raiganj Parliamentary seat as a TMC candidate. For this, he had to resign from the post of MLA. However, he was defeated by the BJP candidate with a margin of 67,300 votes.

Harbouring faith in him the TMC again nominated Kalyani as the candidate for the Raiganj Assembly bypolls and he emerged

victorious this time.

Manas Ghosh, the BJP candidate alleged: “TMC has won the elections by capturing booths. In many places, voters could not cast their votes. The Central Forces also remained mum as they were not properly guided by state officials.”

Mohit Sengupta, Congress Candidate said: “Voters in many places could not reach polling stations because TMC-backed goons intercepted them on the roads. We lodged complaints with the election commission. We also staged protests by blocking roads in Raiganj demanding re-polling. It was not a democratic

election at all.”