BJP notches impressive show in Bengal assembly by-polls

Kolkata: Stretching its stunning Lok Sabha performance to the Assembly by-polls in West Bengal, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday wrested the Bhatpara seat from the Trinamool Congress on Thursday and took an unassailable lead in three other constituencies.

The Trinamool Congress retained Uluberia East and Nowda, and took lead in one seat while the Congress was comfortably placed in Kandi.

In Bhatpara, Pawan Kumar Singh - son of former Trinammol Congress MLA Arjun Singh, who crossed over to the BJP to contest as its Barrackpore Lok Sabha constituency candidate - defeated former state minister and Trinamool nominee Madan Mitra by over 23,000 votes.

In Krishnaganj, where the by-poll was necessitated by the murder of Trinamool`s sitting legislator Satyajit Biswas, BJP contestant Ashish Kumar Biswas has taken a lead of about 31,000 votes against Trinamool`s Pramatha Ranjan Bose.

Neeraj Tamang Zimba of the BJP, backed by the Bimal Gurung faction of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, had takena huge 46,000-plus lead over the other faction leader Binoy Tamang, who contested as an independent supported by the Trinamool.

In Habibpur, Joyel Murmu of the BJP was ahead of Trinamool's Amal Kisku by over 30,000 votes.

The BJP won only three seats in the 2016 assembly polls.

The Trinamool won the Nowda seat, where Sahina Mamtaz Begum got the better of Congress contestant Sunil Kumar Mondal by nearly 34,000 votes.

Trinamool`s Idris Ali humbled BJP`s Pratyush Mandal by close to 16,000 votes in Uluberia East seat.

in Islampur, Trinamool candidate and former state minister Abdul Karim Chowdhury was leading by 21,000 plus votes over Saumyaroop Mandal, of the BJP.

Congress contestant Shafiul Alam Khan is leading by over Trinamool`s Goutam Roy by over 21,000 votes in Kandi.

Except Krishnaganj, the other assembly constituencies went for by-polls as the sitting legislators opted to contest the Lok Sabha elections.