Kolkata: Bollywood actor Shatrughan Sinha broke the jinx of Trinamool Congress by winning the Asansol Lok Sabha seat with more votes than former Bharatiya Janata Party MP Babul Supriyo had secured in 2019.
Supriyo, the singer, however, could not claim an empathetic win in his assembly bypoll as TMC got almost 21 per cent fewer votes than what late Subrata Mukherjee had secured during last year’s assembly poll.
However, TMC won Asansol for the first time after coming to power in 2011. Sinha defeated BJP’s Agnimitra Paul by over three lakh votes.
The Bollywood actor got 56.62 per cent votes against Agnimitra who managed 30.46 per cent.
After the historic result, the actor thanked Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and took a jibe at his former party. He quipped, ‘Khamosh BJP’.
“Mamata Didi’s wish is our command. This is a historical moment and the victory is not just for TMC but also the people of Asansol. The entire team of TMC worked together to confirm the victory. I will do everything to work for the people,” said Sinha addressing the media.
From 1989 to 2014, the Asansol Lok Sabha seat belonged to the Communist Party of India (Marxist) after which BJP had won the seat twice in 2014 and 2019. On both occasions, it was Supriyo who had won the seat for the saffron brigade.
Accepting the defeat, BJP candidate Agnimitra Paul said that the ‘mandate’ of the people should be accepted.
On the other hand, even though TMC candidate Supriyo won from Ballygunge, the Left Front broke the debris and became the main opposition pushing BJP into the distant third position.
Supriyo though he won the Assembly seat by over 20000 votes by getting 51199 total votes, the Left Front’s Saira Shah Halim got 30940 votes.
It can be noted that in two wards CPI (M) had taken the lead and TMC remained second.
Supriyo after winning the seat said that the victory was of ‘Ma Mati and Manush’.
“The CPM and BJP did a deplorable campaign against the TMC. Those who had tried to malign Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee through false allegations got the answer in the result. I dedicate the victory to TMC Supremo Mamata Didi,” said Supriyo.
The former BJP minister was pointing out the No Vote To Babul Supriyo campaign which was a call by civil rights activists asking Ballygunge voters not to vote for Asansol riots accused Supriyo.
“The Ballygunge bypoll mandate has a clear message for ruling TMC that it did not take minorities for granted. TMC’s vote share has reduced drastically and the secular voters of Ballygunge have not accepted Mr Supriyo,” reacted Manzar Jameel, an activist.
Meanwhile, the singer did not forget to slam BJP, his earlier party for not giving ‘respect’ to the Bengalis.
Saira claimed that the result was a ‘morale victory’ for her party.
“The CPM has emerged second and we will soon discuss the vote share within the party. The result is a moral victory for us. Though now we are the main opposition, very soon we will defeat TMC,” said Saira.
Notably, the security deposits of the candidates of both the national parties– the BJP and the Congress have been forfeited in Ballygunge.
After the poll debacle in both the seats, BJP MP Saumitra Khan said that the ‘inexperienced’ state leaders should be replaced to win Bengal.
“There are many things to learn from Trinamool Congress. The inexperienced leaders should be replaced or else there will be more debacles for the BJP. The suspended party workers should be immediately brought back and a review should be made for such loss,” pointed out Khan.
