Trinamool Congress wins Kaliganj Assembly by-election, BJP sees silver lining

Trinamool Congress candidate Alifa Ahmed won the byelections to Kaliganj Assembly on Monday (June 23, 2025) defeating her nearest rival Bharatiya Janata Party’s Ashish Ghosh by a margin of 50,049 votes.

Ms. Ahmed, the daughter of former Trinamool Congress MLA Nasiruddin Ahmed whose death necessitated the bypolls, secured 1,02,759 votes compared to Mr. Ghosh who finished the race with 52,710 votes. The CPI(M) supported Congress candidate Kabil Uddin Sheikh came in third with 28,348 votes when the counting of votes was held during the day.

The Trinamool candidate bettered the margin of the ruling party compared to what her father had secured in the 2021 Assembly polls. Ms. Ahmed (38) quit her job at an IT firm in Kolkata to foray into politics. Two-time Krishnanagar MP Mahua Moitra, who has had a similar career path, welcomed the victory of Ms. Ahmed and said “Satyameva Jayate” on social media. Kaliganj Assembly seat falls under Krishnanagar Lok Sabha seat.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee remembered former MLA Nasiruddin Ahmed, while dedicating the party’s victory to “Maa, Maati and Manush (mother, soil, and people)”.

Ms. Banerjee added that: “People of all religions, castes, races and walks of life in the area have blessed us immensely by exercising their right to vote in the by-elections to the Kaliganj Assembly constituency.”

After the 2024 Lok Sabha election, bypolls to 11 Assembly constituencies have been held in the State and the Trinamool Congress has won all the 11 seats.

Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Suvendu Adhikari, however, said that there was a silver lining as more than 70% of Hindus in the constituency voted in favour of the BJP. Mr. Adhikari said that out of 108 booths with a majority of Hindu population in Kaliganj, in 107 booths the BJP candidate secured victory. Calling for the unity of Hindus in West Bengal, the BJP leader said that the party requires support of 70% Hindu votes to defeat Trinamool Congress in next year’s Assembly polls.

BJP leader Amit Malviya said Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s claims that people from all communities voted for her party’s candidate in Kaliganj is incorrect.

Mr. Malviya said that Hindus are 43% of the voters and Muslims comprise the rest of the voters in Kaliganj. He also cited the voting trend to assert that the BJP candidate secured 74% of votes at Kaliganj higher than the votes secured in the 2021 Assembly and 2024 Lok Sabha polls.