BJP’s big Bengal by-election win! Hasirani Rath scripts massive victory in Suvendu Adhikari’s Nandigram stronghold

The Nandigram bypoll assumed political significance as the BJP fielded Rath, the mother of Chandranath Rath, the slain personal assistant of Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, from the high-profile constituency.

Democratic Trinamool Congress candidate Ehteshmul Haque secured just 719 votes, highlighting the faction's limited electoral presence in the state so far.

In another bypoll, in Rejinagar, a Muslim-majority constituency in Murshidabad district, BJP candidate Shankharavh Sarkar won by a margin of 72,710 votes, defeating Aam Janata Unnayan Party (AJUP) nominee Golam Nabi Azad. The constituency has a Muslim electorate of nearly 70 per cent.

The bypolls emerged as a significant test for the BJP following its landslide victory in the West Bengal Assembly elections in May, when it ended the 15-year rule of the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress.

In Rejinagar, Congress candidate Abdullahil Kafi finished a distant third with 2,893 votes, narrowly ahead of All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) nominee Rabiul Alam Chowdhury, who secured 2,862 votes. Safiuzzaman Saikh of the breakaway Democratic Trinamool Congress (DTMC), led by Arup Roy, received 932 votes.

A total of 15 rounds of counting were scheduled in both constituencies.

Reacting to the Nandigram result, West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari congratulated Rath in a post on X.

“Heartiest Congratulations to Smt. Hasi Rani Rath for this monumental victory in the Nandigram Assembly By-Election, shattering all previous victory margins ever recorded in the sacred soil of Nandigram,” he wrote.

Describing the result as historic, Adhikari said Nandigram had reaffirmed its faith in the development agenda of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP's central leadership.

“This result is an overwhelming endorsement of our new BJP Government in West Bengal and our pro-people, transparent and development-driven governance. The People have clearly spoken, West Bengal chooses progress over misrule and chaos,” he added.

The Nandigram seat fell vacant after Adhikari won the Assembly elections from both Nandigram, his political stronghold, and Bhabanipur, where he defeated former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

Nandigram holds a special place in West Bengal's political history. The region became the epicentre of an anti-land acquisition movement during the Left Front's rule, helping the Trinamool Congress build momentum against the government and eventually end the Left Front's 34-year rule in 2011.

The constituency remained a major battleground in subsequent elections. In 2021, Adhikari defeated Banerjee in Nandigram, delivering a significant setback to the Trinamool Congress chief.

This year's bypoll also carried an emotional dimension, with Rath contesting following the killing of her son, Chandranath Rath, who was shot dead on May 6, two days after the BJP won the state Assembly elections.