People in the Madarihat and Sitai Assembly segments of north Bengal will exercise their democratic rights tomorrow in by-elections. These two seats were vacated after Manoj Tigga, who represented Madarihat in Alipurduar, and Jagadish Chandra Barma Basunia, who represented Sitai in Cooch Behar, won in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, becoming Members of Parliament for Alipurduar and Cooch Behar, respectively.

BJP MP Manoj Tigga is striving to retain the Madarihat seat, while TMC MP Jagadish Chandra Barma Basunia is confident his party’s candidate Sangeeta Roy will secure Sitai against BJP’s Dipak Kumar Roy. Interestingly, TMC’s Rajya Sabha member Prakash Chik Baraik, who lost to Manoj Tigga in the 2024 elections, is hopeful of reclaiming Madarihat in this by-election.

Former Union minister and ex-MP Nisith Pramanik, who lost to Jagadish Chandra Barma Basunia in 2024, is making a strong effort to help BJP candidate in Sitai. To strengthen its position, TMC brought in former cricketer Yusuf Pathan, the MP from Berhampore in Murshidabad, for rallies on 10-11 November.

To hold onto Madarihat, BJP’s state president and Union minister of state for education Sukanta Majumdar, joined by Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari and Darjeeling MP Raju Bista, campaigned for BJP candidate Rahul Lohar.

Notably, BJP leader and former Union minister of state for minority affairs, John Barla has been absent from the campaign, even as Gorkha-backed Independent candidate Budhiman Lama (Tamang) challenges both the BJP and TMC candidates.

The BJP has tasked MP Raju Bista with managing this complex situation, where the party’s Rahul Lohar is running against TMC’s Jay Prakash Toppo. Although Mr Barla has reportedly been inactive due to personal issues, TMC leaders have stayed in touch with him since the last Lok Sabha elections.

TMC leader and Siliguri mayor Gautam Deb told reporters yesterday that Barla has maintained contact with TMC for some time. A few days ago, Sukanta Majumdar met with John Barla to discuss political developments in Alipurduar ahead of the Madarihat by-election.