BJP lost Dhupguri seat to TMC, 8 straight losses by the saffron party in Bengal assembly by-elections since 2021

TMC has wrested the Dhupguri assembly seat from BJP in the by-election by over 4000 votes. The by-election at Dhupguri assembly constituency in Jalpaiguri district was necessitated due to the death of BJP MLA Bishnu Pada Ray on July 25. BJP won the seat in the 2021 assembly election, one amongst the majority of the seats the saffron party had won in the Northern part of Bengal in 2021 even though the party had lost in the state.

TMC candidate Nirmal Chandra Roy, a college professor, won the seat by over 4,000 votes defeating BJP’s Tapasi Roy. BJP had given the ticket to Tapasi, the widow of a CRPF jawan killed in a terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir in 2021. Dhupguri was the only seat in Bengal that went through by-elections along with 6 other seats in 5 more states in India on September 5.

This was BJP’s straight loss in 8 by-elections in Bengal since the 2021 assembly polls. Two of BJP’s MPs Nisith Pramanik and Jagannath Sarkar had contested assembly elections in 2021 from Dinhata and Shantipur respectively. Both seats were won by the BJP. But later they relinquished their seats and continued to remain as Members of Parliament. Thus by-elections happened there in October 2021 in which both seats were lost by BJP to TMC.

“Thank you Dhupguri, for embracing the politics of development over hatred and bigotry. I salute every AITC worker for their tireless efforts in connecting with the people. We're committed to leaving no stone unturned in ensuring Dhupguri's all-round development,” wrote Abhishek Banerjee on X (formerly known as Twitter).

Meanwhile, CPI(M) candidate Ishwar Chandra Roy, who was backed by the Congress came in the third position with less than 6 percent votes recorded in his favour.