Mamata Banerjee wins prestige battle in Bhabanipur bypoll; 'I am man of match', says BJP's Priyanka Tibrewal

Mamata Banerjee on Sunday won the crucial Bhabanipur bypoll in West Bengal, a victory that was both a prestige battle as well as crucial for her to retain the chief minister’s post.

The TMC supremo registered a thumping victory by a record margin of 58,835 votes, eight percent higher compared to her performance in 2011 polls, when she won by 54,213 votes from the constituency.

According to the Election Commission of India, Mamata Banerjee secured 85,263 votes which is around 71.90 perent of the total votes connected in the by-elections. Banerjee’s main competition, BJP candidate Priyanka Tibrewal got 26,428 votes and CPI (M) candidate Srijib Biswas secured 4,226 votes.

After claiming victory from her home turf, Banerjee said, “It is a victory against the conspiracy which was hatched to defeat me from Nandigram. I thank the people of Bhabanipur for giving me such a huge mandate.”

“This is my third victory from Bhabanipur. In 2011, I won the bypoll by a margin of over 54,000 votes. In 2016 Assembly polls, I had won by a margin of over 26,000 votes. This time the margin has gone over 58,000 votes. So, I have broken my own record,” the TMC chief said.

Bagging a win with an unprecedented margin in Bhabanipur, where at the end of 20th round of counting votes TMC was ahead with more than 56,300 votes, Banerjee said she felt “freshly inspired to work more for people.”

“We have won in each and every ward. I am satisfied because Bhabanipur has shown the way. All eyes were trained on this seat. I have been freshly inspired to work more for the people. I will not show V sign, I will show 3 finger sign because I am not contesting alone, my colleagues in Jangipur and Samserganj are also winning comfortably,” Banerjee said after her poll win.

Around 46% of people here (in Bhabanipur) are non-Bengalis. They all have voted for me. People of West Bengal are watching Bhabanipur, which has inspired me: West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee in Kolkata pic.twitter.com/INNblPQYEv

— ANI (@ANI) October 3, 2021

Her victory just five days ahead of Durga Puja brought festive cheer to Bhabanipur as TMC supporters celebrated with green-coloured ‘gulal’.

TMC candidates in Samserganj and Jangipur in Murshidabad district notched impressive wins with TMC’s Jakir Hossain winning Jangipur by a massive margin of 92,480 votes.

Jangipur’s Trinamool Congress nominee Jakir Hossain secured some 1,36,444 votes, while his nearest rival, Bharatiya Janata Party’s Sujit Das, polled 43,964 votes in a one-sided electoral battle. Hossain was declared victorious with a margin of 92,480 votes. Except Jane Alam Mian of Revolutionary Socialist Party, no other candidate reached four figures.

In Samserganj, TMC candidate Amirul Islam won by a margin of 26,379 votes. He secured 96,417 votes, while his nearest rival, Zaidur Rahaman of the Congress, got 70,038. Murshidabad was earlier seen as a Congress stronghold. TMC’s victories in all Asembly constituencies of the district places the Congress in a difficult position in the state of West Bengal

Slamming Mamata over her allegation that the Centre “hatched conspiracies” against her, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state president Sukanta Majumdar on Sunday said the Trinamool Congress chief has a bad habit of finding conspiracy in everything. In a video message, the BJP chief also levelled allegations against the TMC chief for using her leg injury for political gains.

“I congratulate Mamata Banerjee for her victory in Bhabanipur. What she is saying that conspiracy was made against her is wrong. It is her bad habit to find conspiracy in everything. People know all about her injury in the leg and how she used that for political motives,” said Majumdar.

“There is an environment of fear. We are grateful to the people that they gave us so many votes even in the fearful environment. This inspires BJP to continue its fight in Bengal,” he added.  

Posters idolising Banerjee as hindu diety Durga crop up

The idolisation of Banerjee as Durga and being projected as the only leader capable of fighting the BJP from making inroads in the state isn’t new. The frequent comparisons with hindu deity Durga are a steady fodder for the local political reportage. But on Sunday, a fresh series of posters after her stellar show in stronghold Bhabanipur were noteworthy.

From creating an actual Durga-like idol for upcoming poll season, to depicting many hands at one of Banerjee’s portraits, the efforts to strike a resemblance are hardly subtle. In an obvious political dig after the results were announced, the TMC cadre put up a poster outside her residence calling her “Modi-Shah-mardini”, coined after the diety’s another name, Mahishasurmardini, which means the destroyer of asura king Mahishasur.

Poster put up outside #WestBengal CM #MamataBanerjee’s residence in Kalighat. pic.twitter.com/NmJwfTPcdQ

— Pooja Mehta (@pooja_news) October 3, 2021

Meanwhile BJP’s Priyanka Tibrewal, who lost to Banerjee, dubbed herself “man of the match” saying “because I contested the election in Mamata Banerjee’s stronghold and got more than 25,000 votes.”

Tibrewal, a lawyer and a long-time resident of the constituency, blamed “fake voters” for BJP’s defeat. “If people were allowed to vote, the result would have been different. Even I got hold of fake voters on the polling day. In several booths, polls were rigged. But I will admit that our organisation was weak in Bhabanipur. We have to improve this,” she said.

I am 'Man of the Match' of this game because I contested the election in Mamata Banerjee's stronghold and got more than 25,000 votes. I will continue doing the hard work: Bhabanipur BJP candidate Priyanka Tibrewal pic.twitter.com/pAiQMutcHi

— ANI (@ANI) October 3, 2021

Earlier in the day, Banerjee’s lead and a notably deserted BJP office in Kolkata spurred TMC leaders to already celebrate their leader’s win.

While party cadre was seen celebrating on the ground, despite an ECI order directing otherwise, senior leadership took to Twitter to mark the occassion.

Wishes pour in from TMC leaders

From Firhad Hakim to Kunal Ghosh, TMC leaders congratulate the party chief after she claimed victory from her home turf.

This moment is the most special moment for each and every single person in #Bengal who firmly stood beside #MamataBanerjee in her journey, through thick and thin!

People of Bhabanipur have chosen the leader of this nation, come 2024!#MamataBanerjeeForBhabanipur

— FIRHAD HAKIM (@FirhadHakim) October 3, 2021

Didi is Didi.
Shouting Bhabi can't be any alternative.
You can make some illusions by reflecting drama through media.
But those nuisance activities don't make impact upon serious citizens.

So, advanced congrats to @MamataOfficial for a huge expected victory.

— Kunal Ghosh (@KunalGhoshAgain) October 3, 2021

Mamata was defeated by BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari in the Nandigram constituency in the Assembly elections held earlier this year.

Following this, the Bhabanipur Assembly seat was vacated by the West Bengal Agriculture Minister Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay in May, making way for West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to contest from Bhabanipur seat as a move to continue to hold her post.

BJP fielded 41-year-old Priyanka Tibrewal against the TMC chief.

A lawyer by profession, Tibrewal is the vice-president of the West Bengal unit of BJP Yuva Morcha. She is also the petitioner in the Calcutta High Court against the post-poll violence in the state. Notably, the High Court has ordered a CBI probe in violence in West Bengal after the Assembly elections.

The bypolls for the Bhabanipur Assembly constituency took place on 30 September.

Trinamool Congress had registered a landslide victory in assembly polls winning 213 of 294 seats in the West Bengal assembly. The BJP won 77 seats.