Kolkata: Trinamool Congress MP Aparupa Poddar has attributed corruption within her party as the reason for its loss in the Sagardighi Assembly by-polls in Murshidabad. The party had won the seat in the last three elections but suffered a defeat this time. Poddar stated that some of the heavyweight leaders' misdeeds had led to the party's downfall.
"Due to the misdeeds of some of the heavyweight leaders we have been shown red card and pushed outside the ground," Poddar said. "Today, there is only one leader in India and it is Mamata Banerjee. We have all won because of her. In Sagardighi, we lost due to the misdeeds of a section of the leaders of our party. Our party will be able to progress much better is we follow Banerjee's footsteps," she wrote.
The corruption charges against Trinamool Congress leaders include the former education minister and senior party leader Partha Chatterjee's arrest by the Enforcement Directorate in a school recruitment scam, and another heavyweight leader, Anubrata Mondal, being behind bars in a separate case.
Poddar took to social media to criticize the Congress-led government's failure to support Muslims for 70 years, and the Left Front government's lack of effort in improving the minorities' socio-economic and educational conditions during its 34-year rule in West Bengal. She also claimed that the Trinamool Congress lost due to the misdeeds of a section of its leaders, but they could progress better by following Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's footsteps.
The Congress, along with the Left Front, managed to come up from the third position it had held in the 2021 Assembly elections to win the Sagardighi seat dominated by Muslims and tribals. The Congress's Byron Biswas defeated TMC's Debashis Banerjee, a distant relative of Mamata Banerjee.
Also Read: West Bengal bypoll 2023: Sagardighi result shows Mamata not invincible: Adhir Chowdhury
Mamata Banerjee had alleged that the BJP had gone into an understanding with the Congress-Left Front combine to defeat the TMC in the bypolls. She called the victory "immoral" and announced that she would fight the 2024 general elections alone, with her only alliance being with the people of Bengal.
Political analysts have highlighted the minorities' role in determining the bypoll's results, with Muslims comprising 63% and tribals 10% of the population. The TMC had managed a 50% vote share in the 2021 Assembly polls.
In conclusion, the Sagardighi by-poll has exposed the Trinamool Congress's corruption, leading to its loss in a stronghold. The Congress and Left Front's victory in the constituency has highlighted the minorities' role in determining the election results. Meanwhile, Mamata Banerjee's statement about fighting the 2024 general elections alone has created a buzz in the political circles.
