The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has secured another major victory in West Bengal, with its candidate Hasi Rani Rath winning the Nandigram Assembly bypoll by a record margin of over 1.22 lakh votes.
Rath, who is the mother of Chandranath Rath, an aide to West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari who was shot dead in Madhyamgram on May 6, polled 1,64,227 votes. Her nearest rival, Congress candidate Milan Pradhan, received 41,674 votes.
The victory margin of over 1.22 lakh votes is the highest in Nandigram since 1967.
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The previous record was set by Adhikari in 2016, when he won the seat as a Trinamool Congress candidate by a margin of 81,230 votes.
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Adhikari had vacated the Nandigram seat after winning both Nandigram and Bhabanipur; the constituency was associated with All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee.
The BJP also registered a significant victory in Rejinagar, the other West Bengal constituency where a bypoll was held. BJP candidate Shankaravh Sarkar won the seat by a margin of over 75,000 votes.
Reacting to the results, West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendhu Adhikari noted that the BJP's victory in Rejinagar demonstrated that members of the minority community had also voted for the party.
"BJP candidate Hasi Rani Rath has won from Nandigram and she has also crossed my record margin. Minorities in Nandigram have supported us and have positively accepted my request to join our movement," Adhikari said.
"Our candidate is winning in Rejinagar as well and the majority of votes that we have received there are from the minority community," he added.
"I pay my respects to the people of Rejinagar and especially want to thank those who benefited from the Annapurna Yojana (under which eligible women get Rs 3,000 every month)," Adhikari concluded.
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