Kolkata, October 9 (Daily Kiran) : Counting for the by-elections in Nandigram and Rejinagar in West Bengal is currently underway, with early trends indicating a significant lead for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidates. In Nandigram, BJP’s Hasirani Rath is ahead of Congress candidate Milan Pradhan. Notably, the All India Trinamool Congress, led by former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, did not contest this seat. Hasirani Rath is the mother of Chandranath Rath, who was the former personal assistant to Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari and was tragically murdered on May 6 in Madhyamgram, North 24 Parganas, following the assembly election results.
In Rejinagar, BJP candidate Sakharav Sarkar is leading by nearly 6,000 votes against Congress’s Mohammad Abdullah. This constituency is particularly interesting as it has a significant minority population, with over 65 percent of voters belonging to the Muslim community. Voting took place on October 6.
Earlier this year, during the West Bengal assembly elections, Suvendu Adhikari was elected from both Nandigram and Bhawanipur. In Bhawanipur, he defeated his predecessor, Mamata Banerjee, by a margin of over 15,000 votes, which necessitated the by-election in Nandigram.
Meanwhile, former Trinamool Congress MLA Humayun Kabir contested from the Naoda and Rejinagar constituencies as an AJSU candidate and won. He later decided to retain the Naoda seat, leading to the need for a by-election in Rejinagar.
As of now, counting is ongoing, with postal ballots being counted first, followed by EVM votes. There will be 15 rounds of counting for both constituencies, with final trends expected to become clear between noon and 1 PM.
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