WB: Ranaghat Dakshin BJP candidate accuses TMC of creating chaotic situation in by-polls

Nadia (West Bengal) [India], July 10 (ANI): Ranaghat Dakshin BJP candidate Manoj Kumar Biswas on Wednesday accused the ruling TMC of creating a chaotic situation to prevent voters from exercising their franchise freely. West Bengal’s Ranaghat Dakshin, along with Raiganj, Bagda, and Maniktala in the state, went to the polls in the by-polls on Wednesday.

“Ranaghat Dakshin is BJP’s area. It has been proven again and again. There is tremendous enthusiasm among the voters. I am confident that in this election, voters will again make us win but the fact is that TMC, supported by the administration with criminal personnel, is trying to create a chaotic situation so that no voter comes to the voting centre,” Biswas told ANI.

They are threatening our voters and workers.A free and fair election is not possible in West Bengal because the government does not want it,” he added.

Bypolls in Ranaghat, Dakshin, Raiganj and Bagda are necessitated because the BJP MLAs who won these constituencies in the 2021 election switched to the TMC.

The TMC won the Maniktala seat in the 2021 election, however, the sitting TMC MLA, Sadhan Pandey, died in February 2022, necessitating the election.

Mukut Mani Adhikari, whose resignation as MLA necessitated the election, is the TMC candidate in the Ranaghat Dakshin constituency.

For both the BJP and TMC, these by-polls are seen as high-stakes elections. The TMC wants to carry on the momentum of its better performance in the 2024 Lok Sabha election, while for the BJP, repeating the win in Ranaghat, Dakshin, Raiganj and Bagda is seen as prestigious.

The TMC won 29 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal, up from 22 in the 2019 parliamentary polls. On the other hand, the BJP’s tally came down to 12 from 18 in 2019.

Other states where by-polls are being held today are Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, and Himachal Pradesh.

In these seven states, 13 Assembly constituencies went to the polls today. The voting started at 7 am will conclude at 6 pm.

Assembly by-polls are being held in West Bengal’s Raiganj, Ranaghat Dakshin, Bagda, and Maniktala; Badrinath and Manglaur in Uttarakhand; Jalandhar West in Punjab; Dehra, Hamirpur, and Nalagarh in Himachal Pradesh; Rupauli in Bihar; Vikravandi in Tamil Nadu; and Amarwara in Madhya Pradesh.