Kolkata, Oct 9 (PTI) The BJP’s twin bypoll victories in Nandigram and Muslim-majority Rejinagar have underlined its expanding political reach in West Bengal, consolidating its position in one constituency and making a breakthrough in another barely four months after ending the TMC’s 15-year rule, as a fragmented opposition struggled to mount a credible challenge.
While Nandigram reinforced Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari’s political standing, Rejinagar raised questions about the BJP’s ability to expand its appeal in constituencies where minority voters have traditionally shaped electoral outcomes.
The results have also sharpened the contest over who can emerge as the principal challenger to the ruling party.
In Nandigram, BJP candidate Hasirani Rath defeated Congress nominee Milan Pradhan by 1,22,753 votes, polling 1,64,427 against 41,674. In Rejinagar, BJP candidate Shankharavh Sarkar defeated Aam Janata Unnayan Party (AJUP) nominee Golam Nabi Azad by 75,816 votes, securing 1,29,914 against 54,098.
The BJP’s vote share rose from around 27 per cent to 63 per cent in Rejinagar and from approximately 50 per cent to 76 per cent in Nandigram between the Assembly election and the bypoll.
Rejinagar in Murshidabad district represents the more striking breakthrough. Muslims account for nearly 70 per cent of the constituency’s electorate, where the TMC, Congress and regional formations have traditionally competed for minority support.
The result challenges assumptions about the limits of the BJP’s electoral appeal, though constituency-wide figures alone cannot establish how individual communities voted.
Adhikari claimed that the minority community had “found a friend in BJP”, asserting that the party secured around 60 per cent of Muslim votes in Rejinagar and 80 per cent in Nandigram.
The BJP’s campaign also sought to project its rule as politically enduring.
Addressing voters in Rejinagar, state BJP president Samik Bhattacharya said the party would remain in power at the Centre and in West Bengal for the next 20 years, adding that voters would have to learn to coexist with it.
After his victory, Sarkar attributed the result to development-oriented voting.
“The minorities have shown that they are clever. They have sided with development; they have answered CM’s call. They have shown that they are with the state government,” he told reporters.
The BJP leader said voters wanted “bridges, hospitals and industrial parks”, describing the result as a rebuke to those practising communal politics.
The BJP can use the outcome to project development and governance as potential bridges across community boundaries. Whether the result signals a lasting shift in minority preferences, however, will depend on subsequent electoral contests. Opposition fragmentation and local candidate choices may also have shaped the outcome.
The defeat of Golam Nabi Azad also exposed the limits of personal political followings. His father, Humayun Kabir, had won Rejinagar by more than 58,000 votes in May before retaining Nowda, necessitating the bypoll. His son failed to retain the seat for the AJUP, raising questions about whether a regional leader’s support can be transferred to a successor.
Nandigram carries a different political significance. The anti-land acquisition movement helped propel the TMC to power in 2011, ending the Left Front’s 34-year rule. The constituency later became the stage for a defining political battle when Adhikari defeated Mamata Banerjee in the 2021 Assembly election.
Adhikari won Nandigram again in May by 9,665 votes but retained Bhabanipur, necessitating the bypoll. Rath’s victory by a much larger margin consolidated the BJP’s position in a constituency closely associated with the chief minister’s political rise.
The opposition’s attempt to coordinate tactically failed to produce a competitive contest. After the Mamata-led TMC faction’s candidate, Sanchita Pradhan Dey, withdrew following a meeting with Adhikari, Banerjee backed Congress nominee Milan Pradhan to prevent a division of anti-BJP votes. He nevertheless finished more than 1.22 lakh votes behind Rath, highlighting the limits of tactical coordination without a strong organisational base.
Political analyst Biswanath Chakraborty said, “The results have left the question of who will lead the opposition camp unresolved, with the Congress, the Left and rival TMC factions yet to establish a clear claim to that space.”
The Congress’s performance offers little immediate clarity. Despite Banerjee’s backing in Nandigram, its nominee could not mount a substantial challenge. In Rejinagar, where it contested independently, Abdullahil Kafi secured 6,168 votes, finishing behind the AJUP. The CPI(M), the Mamata-led TMC faction and the breakaway Democratic Trinamool Congress also failed to establish a competitive presence.
For the Congress, the results could intensify the debate over whether to rebuild independently or pursue tactical arrangements with regional parties. The Left faces the parallel challenge of restoring its organisational strength after years of electoral decline.
The two TMC factions face a separate test: whether either can inherit the political machinery and voter loyalty of a party that governed Bengal for 15 years.
Their candidates’ poor performances offer little evidence of an immediate transfer of support to rival identities, though future realignments and local mobilisation could alter the equation.
Turnout stood at 80.89 per cent in Nandigram and 80.08 per cent in Rejinagar, respectively, amid allegations of intimidation, irregularities and clashes.
Congress state president Subhankar Sarkar alleged that the results reflected “muscle power” and a tacit understanding involving the state police administration and the Election Commission.
Kunal Ghosh, an MLA of the Mamata-led TMC faction, alleged that the election had been “looted”. The BJP rejected the allegations.
The twin victories have strengthened the BJP’s position in a constituency central to Adhikari’s political rise and demonstrated its ability to win decisively in a seat where its appeal had traditionally been limited. PTI PNT NN
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