TMC secures historic victory in Madarihat, dismantles BJP’s stronghold

Alipurduar: After a long wait of 13 years, Trinamool Congress (TMC) finally wrested the Madarihat Assembly Constituency from the BJP.

With this defeat, all eyes are focused on whether this would emerge as a precursor to how things would unfold in the 2026 Assembly elections for the saffron brigade, thereby ending the party’s dominance in this region, labelled as a BJP stronghold. The TMC camp switched into celebration mode as TMC candidate Jay Prakash Toppo defeated BJP’s Rahul Lohar by a margin of 28171 votes, signalling a significant political shift.

While Toppo secured 79186 votes, Lohar secured 51018 votes.

Meanwhile, the votes of the Left and Congress nosedived. Padam Oraon of the RSP secured 3,412 votes, while Congress candidate Bikash Champromary managed 3,023 votes. Out of total elector strength of 220342, 146527 votes had been cast on the day of polls.

Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha President and Gorkhaland Territorial Administration Chief Executive Anit Thapa had also campaigned for the TMC in the Gorkha pockets of the Madarihat constituency. BGPM is an ally of the TMC.

Jay Prakash Toppo credited the victory to development initiatives, particularly in tea gardens. “This victory belongs to the people of Madarihat. Development in 24 tea gardens has been the key. I thank Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee for their trust,” he said.

Trinamool district president and Rajya Sabha MP Prakash Chik Baraik described the result as a blow to BJP’s credibility. “We promised to silence the BJP’s false claims, and we have succeeded,” he said.

The BJP’s stronghold in Madarihat has been weakening since the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. While the party held a lead of over 29,000 votes in the 2021 Assembly elections, this margin was reduced to 11,000 in 2024.

In this by-election, the BJP’s inability to address long-standing issues such as the closure of four tea gardens in Madarihat—Lankapara, Dalmor, Ramjhora, and Dheklapara—appears to have cost them significantly.

The state government’s consistent efforts to restore faith among tea garden workers by implementing welfare schemes such as the labour grant, old-age allowance and Lakshmi Bhandar payments were reflected in the voting trends. The TMC also made inroads into BJP strongholds, including Sakoajhora Gram Panchayat in Dhupguri and Binnaguri Gram Panchayat in Banarhat.

Political observers also attribute BJP’s loss to the party having failed to appeal to electors with their poll plank which had nothing much except the RG Kar issue which the party projected as a pointer to how unsafe women were in Bengal. “They relied too heavily on the RG Kar issue. However, the narratives and protest programmes failed to translate into votes in the EVMs in their favour. On the other hand, a large number of women voters, seen in the queues on the polling day clearly voted for welfare schemes and development- in favour of the TMC,” opined a political observer.

Another major issue that has been a turning point for the BJP is that the party has been grappling with internal conflicts. Former Union minister and BJP MP John Barla blamed the party’s state leadership and district president Manoj Tigga for the loss.

“This defeat is due to the one-man Army attitude (read Manoj Tigga.) Sidelining local leaders they got state leaders and leaders from outside to campaign. The tea garden union and leaders were not consulted. This is the outcome. It was expected. If there is no change in strategy and they continue in this way then 2026 will be a rerun of this outcome,” predicted Barla.

He has been constantly complaining of attempts by a group of leaders within the party to sideline him. Barla who has a strong support base in the tea belt remained inconspicuous in the BJP election campaigns.

BJP Lok Sabha MP Manoj Tigga dismissed the allegations. “We’ll turn the tables in 2026. Barla’s comments are driven by frustration over not receiving the 2024 Lok Sabha ticket,” he said.

Even the BJP national vice-president blamed the wrong strategy and a section of the BJP leadership for the defeat.

“We did not do well in the Lok Sabha polls. Bypoll results have also not gone well. The current leadership should review this. We are on a downward trend,” stated Ghosh. Though the TMC won all 6 constituencies in the state, the Madarihat victory holds a special place. This is evident from the statements of both the party Supremo Mamata Banerjee as well as party’s national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee.

Recently during her tour of the Darjeeling Hills, Mamata Banerjee lamented: “Despite all our sincere efforts to ensure development and prosperity, Madarihat does not vote for us.”

All this changed on Saturday. Following the victory, Abhishek Banerjee, taking to X, wrote: “A special thanks to the people of Madarihat for giving us the opportunity to serve you for the first time...”