Sagardighi Bypoll Result: Trinamool loses key seat; Congress says Mamata is not invincible

Left-backed Congress candidate Byron Biswas defeated Trinamool candidate Debashis Banerjee in the Sagardighi Assembly by-election by 22,980 votes. The bypoll to this seat in Murshidabad, West Bengal, was necessitated due to the death of three-time Trinamool MLA and minister Subrata Saha.

Talking about the result unfolding in Sagardighi, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said, "Through this victory, the indomitable mentality of the people of Sagardighi has been reflected. A section of the Trinamool supported the Left-Congress alliance in this election. Even many BJP supporters may have voted for Congress for strategic reasons. This election proved that Mamata Banerjee is not invincible. She can be defeated."

A total of 1,85,012 votes were cast in the Sagardighi by-election. Among them, the number of female votes was 99,458. Votes from minority communities will have a major impact on today's election results. In the 2021 elections, the voter turnout in Sagardighi Assembly was 78.87 per cent. This year it has decreased to 75.18 per cent. There are about 80,000 Hindu votes in the 11 village panchayats of the assembly constituency. Political parties claim that the absence of about 25,000 migrant workers from the Sagardighi assembly constituency in this election will have a major impact on the results. Apart from some scattered incidents, the voting phase of the Sagardighi by-election was completed freely and peacefully

Earlier in the day, Trinamool candidate Debashis Banerjee said that even if he is confident about the victory, the margin may decrease. He said, "Even if we win, our margin will decrease a lot. The gap can be as high as 15,000." However, Congress candidate Byron Biswas said, "This time, Trinamool will have surprising results. Minority areas voted very well. The margin of victory shall, in no case, be less than 20,000. We are going to open the account in the assembly in the by-election."

This time Adhir and CPM State Secretary Mohammad Salim were not seen on the same stage, but both camps claimed that the Left-Congress understanding is much stronger at the local level this time.