New Delhi: The BJP on Friday put up a brave face after its defeat in the Dhupguri assembly by-election in West Bengal, saying it may not have won the seat but the people of the state will deliver a "crushing blow" to the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
The ruling TMC wrested the Dhupguri assembly seat in Jalpaiguri district from the BJP in a by-election.
"The BJP may not have won the Dhupguri assembly constituency in West Bengal but we are grateful to all the voters and karyakartas, who ensured that the BJP holds on to its vote share, despite a hostile and oppressive TMC regime," BJP's co-incharge for the state Amit Malviya said in a post on X.
Malviya said that the "marginal win" for the ruling TMC, just before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, is an indication of “times ahead”.
"West Bengal will deliver a crushing blow to Mamata Banerjee in 2024,” the BJP leader asserted.
According to officials, TMC candidate Nirmal Chandra Roy, a college professor, won the seat by 4,313 votes. He bagged 96,961 votes, while his nearest rival BJP's Tapasi Roy, the widow of a CRPF jawan killed in a terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir in 2021, got 92,648 votes.
"Both Mamata Banerjee (TMC supremo and West Bengal CM) and her heir apparent were invested in the bypoll, but still could barely scrape through,” Malviya said.
He claimed that people are fed up with Banerjee's "regressive politics, which thrives on blocking central government schemes, corruption and cut money".
"The demeaning comment on the proud Rajbongshi community has convinced the Dalits and tribals in West Bengal that Mamata Banerjee abhors them and treats them with disdain,” he added.
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