Mamata All India Trinamool Congress has called for opposition unity ahead of the October 6 Rejinagar Assembly bypoll in Murshidabad, urging Congress and CPI(M) leaders and workers to work together to protect polling booths and voters' democratic rights. TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said the party had not entered into an alliance with the Congress or CPI(M), but argued that opposition parties had a shared responsibility to ensure that voters could cast their ballots without obstruction. The appeal comes amid a high-stakes contest in a constituency where Muslim voters account for more than 60% of the electorate and where the political battle is being closely watched ahead of the October 9 results.
“We did not form an alliance with the Congress and CPI(M). The opposition votes might get divided but the responsibility to protect the polling booths and the right of voters lies with all,” Ghosh told reporters. He also linked the appeal to opposition parties' broader campaign against alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in several states. Congress leader and former state party president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury separately called for opposition unity, saying that while every voter had democratic rights, opposition booth agents had allegedly been driven away by ruling party workers in the past. Chowdhury appealed to TMC supporters to vote for the Congress in the bypoll, while CPI(M) state committee member Sujan Chakraborty backed the call for voters to unite against what he described as attempts to curb democratic rights.
The BJP rejected the allegations and accused the opposition parties of making such claims because they were unable to win the Rejinagar seat. Bengal BJP chief spokesperson Debjit Sarkar said the TMC, Congress and CPI(M) were “virtually non-existent” in the state and pointed to the BJP's performance in the April Assembly elections. According to the figures cited in the report, the BJP won 207 of West Bengal's 294 Assembly seats, while the TMC secured 80. The CPI(M) and Indian Secular Front won one seat each and the Congress won two, with the BJP also securing Falta in a repoll held in May. The parties are now preparing for the final phase of campaigning in Rejinagar and Nandigram ahead of polling.
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Rejinagar is one of the seven Assembly segments that make up the Berhampore Lok Sabha constituency, which was represented by Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury for five consecutive terms between 1999 and 2019. Chowdhury was defeated by former cricketer-turned-politician Yusuf Pathan, who contested the Lok Sabha election as a TMC candidate. Murshidabad has a Muslim population of 66.27% according to the 2011 Census, the highest share among West Bengal districts, while Muslims account for more than 60% of voters in Rejinagar. The demographic composition makes the constituency particularly significant for the competing parties as they seek to consolidate their support base ahead of the bypoll.
The bypoll is also taking place against the backdrop of a major political realignment within West Bengal's Assembly. On June 3, the Assembly Speaker recognised 58 rebel TMC legislators led by Ritabrata Banerjee as the principal opposition party in the House. Mamata Banerjee subsequently approached the Supreme Court, which referred the matter to the Election Commission. The party led by Mamata Banerjee was renamed Mamata All India Trinamool Congress and was allotted the football player symbol on September 18, while the rival faction received the name Democratic Trinamool Congress and the envelope symbol. The organisational changes have added another layer to the political contest surrounding the bypolls.
The Rejinagar and Nandigram bypolls are being held because the candidates who won both seats in the April Assembly elections also retained other constituencies. Suspended TMC legislator Humayun Kabir won both Nowda and Rejinagar for his newly launched Aam Janata Unnayan Party but retained Nowda, creating the vacancy in Rejinagar. In Nandigram, then Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari retained his traditional seat after also defeating Mamata Banerjee in Bhabanipur, and later chose to represent Bhabanipur after becoming chief minister. With voting scheduled for October 6 and counting set for October 9, the competing calls for opposition coordination, along with the BJP's rejection of the allegations, have made booth security and voter access central issues in the Rejinagar campaign.
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