KOLKATA: Eyeing all the three seats in Bengal by-polls, the BJP on Sunday fielded party vice president Joyprakash Mazumdar to take on the TMC in the latter’s citadel of Karimpur.
Kumar Chandra Sarkar and Premchand Jha will contest the Kaliaganj and Kharagpur (Sadar) seats, respectively.
The by-polls ahead of the Assembly elections 2021 is significant because the state’s three main political formations will get an opportunity to test their political heft on the ground in the backdrop of the Lok Sabha polls, in which the BJP emerged as the ruling party’s main opponent.
The TMC and Left-Congress alliance have drawn up their battle-lines banking on the fear among the people over the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and Citizenship (Amendment) Bill (CAB), while the BJP is using it to take Hindu voters into confidence.
Without mentioning the Muslims who had migrated from Bangladesh, Union home minister Amit Shah in his speech last month in Kolkata said, “Not a single refugee will have to leave India and not a single infiltrator will be allowed to live here.’’
"We will use this punch-line. Mamata Banerjee’s politics is of appeasement. We are banking on the resentment triggered by her policy," said a BJP leader. Congress has fielded candidates in Kharagpur (Sadar) and Kaliaganj seats, while the Left Front is contesting in Karimpur seat.
Kaliaganj seat fell vacant following Congress MLA Pramatha Nath Roy demise while by-polls to Kharagpur and Karimpur seats were vacated by sitting BJP MLA Dilip Ghosh and TMC’s Mahua Moitra who were elected to Parliament.
The Left Front and Congress agreed to share seats and formed an alliance to combat the BJP and the TMC.