Trinamool Congress (TMC) marched to a thumping victory in Noapara assembly seat by-poll by 63,018 votes.
TMC candidate Sunil Singh received 1,11,729 votes. His opponents CPIM’s Gargi Chaterjee secured 35,497 votes, BJP’s Sandip Banerjee got 38,711 votes and Congress’s Goutam Bose received 10,527 votes.
It should be noted that BJP’s vote share in Noapara, West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district is almost similar to CPIM’s, which can be seen as signs of change in the electoral dynamics in parts of West Bengal.
At the time of writing, TMC was also leading in the Ulberia Lok Sabha constituency.
Vote counting started in the two constituencies amid tight security.
The Uluberia by-poll was called following the death of Sultan Ahmed, the sitting TMC MP. While in Noapara, the death of Congress MLA Madhusudan Ghose necessitated the by-polls.
The TMC has held Uluberia seat since 2009. Sultan Ahmed’s widow, Sajda, is the TMC candidate from the constituency. The CPI(M) fielded Sabiruddin Molla, the Congress is represented by SK Madassar Hossain Warsi, and the BJP fielded district committee leader Anupam Mallik.