Elections are over in six of eight Lok Sabha constituencies in north Bengal and leaders and workers of different parties are in a relaxed mode now, waiting for the June 4 results.
However, in Raiganj, the parties, especially the Trinamool Congress and the BJP, are still in poll mode and have said they have little time to relax.
“There is no relief for us as the byelection in the Raiganj Assembly seat will be held soon after the Lok Sabha elections. We have got such hints from the administration and asked our leaders and workers not to be relaxed but keep meeting people to make the ground ready for the bypoll,” said Basudeb Sarkar, the North Dinajpur district BJP president.
In 2021, Krishna Kalyani had won the Raiganj Assembly seat on a BJP ticket. He, however, defected to Trinamool. Ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, Kalyani resigned from the Assembly and filed his nomination as the Trinamool candidate in the Raiganj Lok Sabha segment.
“As the seat has become vacant, a byelection will be held. We have told our workers and leaders, especially of the Raiganj Assembly segment, that they should not be in a laidback mode. Instead, they should keep working on the field to garner support for us,” said Kalyani.
Similar instructions have come from state leaders of both Trinamool and the BJP to the parties’ functionaries in four other north Bengal districts.
Trinamool has fielded Jagadish Chandra Barma Basunia, Nirmal Chandra Roy and Biplab Mitra in Cooch Behar, Jalpaiguri and Balurghat, respectively. Barma Basunia, Roy and Mitra are Trinamool MLAs of Sitai (in Cooch Behar), Dhupguri (in Jalpaiguri) and Harirampur (in South Dinajpur), respectively.
Manoj Tigga, the BJP MLA of Madarihat, has contested as the party’s candidate in the Alipurduar Lok Sabha constituency.
“If they win, the Assembly seats will fall vacant and byelections will be held. After the general election, both Trinamool and the BJP will try to ride the success to tide over the bypolls. That is why, it seems, they want their local leaders and workers not to go into hibernation mode in the next one month and instead, continue their regular political activities,” said a political observer.
In Raiganj, a Trinamool leader said, unlike other areas of the district, they had decided to keep their party flags across the Assembly segment and not take those off.
In Jalpaiguri, Trinamool district leaders will meet block-level leaders on Sunday to gather information about the party’s performance at booths.
“At the meeting, we will ask them to be prepared for the Assembly bypoll in Dhupguri as we are confident that Nirmal Chandra Roy will win the Lok Sabha election,” said Mahua Gope, the Jalpaiguri district Trinamool president.
Tigga, who also heads the BJP in Alipurduar, said he was campaigning for Khagen Murmu, the BJP candidate for the Malda Uttar seat.
“Once the campaign ends, I will return to Alipurduar and sit with party leaders. I am confident of winning in the Lok Sabha seat and will ask leaders and workers to start making preparations for the Assembly byelection in Madarihat,” he said over the phone from Malda.
