KOLKATA: As the BJP suffered a jolt in its north Bengal stronghold after two of its MLAs joined the ruling Trinamool Congress, the Dinhata Assembly bypoll will be an acid test for the saffron camp.
In 2019 Lok Sabha elections, BJP MP from Cooch Behar Nisith Pramanik, who contested in the recent Assembly elections, won merely by 57 votes in Dinhata.
Understandably, the TMC is waiting to breach the opposition’s citadel.
‘’Our party had a slender victory in Dinhata and now if we fail to retain the seat in Cooch Behar, it will deliver a negative message to the electorates across the state, which will definitely have a negative impact on all municipal and panchayat elections in the state. This why the Dinhata bypoll is an acid test,’’ said a BJP leader.
Udayan Guha of the TMC will take on BJP’s Ashok Mondol in the October 30 bypoll. The seat fell vacant after Pramanick was elevated as a union minister in Delhi.
Incidentally, Guha is the son of Forward Bloc leader Kamal Guha, who had strong influence among the electorate of Cooch Behar.
The TMC candidate is no pushover as he was elected as a Forward Bloc candidate from the constituency in the 2011 bengal Assembly elections and re-elected as a Trinamool MLA in 2016.
The BJP, however, is counting on Trinamool’s intra-party feud for retaining the seat.
“Cooch Behar sprung a surprise as the electorate elected Pramanik as MP and seven of our nine MLAs. People of Dinhata will not disappoint us,’’ said a BJP leader.
But, the TMC claims to have revived its organisation in the north Bengal district.
“People of Dinhata elected BJP’s Pramanik who shunned them by deciding not to continue as the MLA of the constituency. They will not vote for the saffron party this time,” asserted a TMC leader.
WHY DINHATA IS IMPORTANT
Dinhata is a battle of prestige for the BJP because it falls in North Bengal, which is considered a stronghold area of the saffron party.
In the 2019 general elections, the BJP won here 18 Lok Sabha constituencies in the eastern state. Moreover, Junior home minister Nisith Pramanik comes from this part of West Bengal.