As the bypoll in the Kaliganj Assembly segment in Nadia district comes less than a year before the elections in West Bengal, both the ruling TMC and the Opposition BJP are leaving no stones unturned to win the seat.

With the TMC looking confident to win the minority-dominated seat, the BJP believes that “Operation Sindoor” made a huge impact among the voters of Bengal and therefore, it will reflect in the counting of votes on June 23.

Traditionally, Kaliganj had once been a strong bastion of the Congress. Other than Congress, the Left allies RSP won four times from there in the past. The Congress won from Kaliganj in the 2016 assembly election in alliance with the Left Front. But their winning candidate later joined TMC. In 2021, TMC’s Nasiruddin Ahamed won from Kaliganj in 2011 but lost in 2016. He again regained the seat in 2021. After his demise, the seat fell vacant.

The TMC has fielded 38-year-old Alifa Ahmed, the daughter of Nasiruddin Ahamed and a BTech graduate who works in a renowned IT company. While the BJP has picked Ashish Ghosh, a local panchayat member and former mandal president. Kabil Uddin Sheikh is the Congress nominee, backed by the Left Front.

In last year’s Lok Sabha election, CPI(M) candidate S M Sadi got the highest votes in Kaliganj Assembly segment. So, the Congress is expecting a good number of votes. On the other hand, the BJP is expecting the consolidation of Hindu votes, and is banking on the Congress candidate to split the minority votes to sail Ghosh through.

“We fought well in Kaliganj during the panchayat and Lok Sabha elections. In 2016, the Congress won the seat as part of the Left alliance. If we field a joint candidate now, we can defeat both TMC and BJP,” CPI(M) state secretary Mohammed Salim said.

Kaliganj has a Muslim voter population of around 54 per cent, along with SCs (14.43 per cent) and STs (0.42 per cent). It is predominantly rural, with 90.67 per cent rural and 9.33 per cent urban population, as per the 2011 Census.

“The BJP thrives on dividing communities, but Kaliganj stands united. People here have rejected communal hatred time and again, and they will do so once more,” Alifa Ahmed said.

State BJP chief Sukanta Majumdar said, “The TMC is playing appeasement politics in the name of minority welfare. We want equal development for all without vote bank politics… This election is not about Hindu or Muslim. It’s about good governance, something the TMC has failed to deliver.” —WITH PTI