Kaliganj bypolls: TMC candidate Alifa Ahmed secures landslide victory against BJP’s Ashish Ghosh; CM Mamata Banerjee expresses gratitude | India News

NEW DELHI: All India Trinamool Congress candidate Alifa Ahmed secured a sweeping victory within the Kaliganj Assembly bypoll, defeating BJP’s Ashish Ghosh by a margin of fifty,049 votes—surpassing the 2021 win margin of her late father, Nasiruddin Ahmed, whose passing in February prompted the election in West Bengal’s Nadia district.Congress candidate Kabil Uddin Shaikh, backed by the Left, completed third with 28,348 votes. The byelection, held on Thursday, noticed a voter turnout of 69.85% by 5pm and was largely peaceable, other than just a few remoted incidents.Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee expressed gratitude saying, “People of all religions, castes, races and walks of life in the area have blessed us immensely by exercising their right to vote in the by-elections to the Kaliganj Assembly constituency. I humbly express my gratitude to them. The main architects of this victory are mother, soil, and people. My colleagues from Kaliganj have worked tirelessly for this. I also extend my heartfelt congratulations to them.““My greetings and salutations to everyone. In memory of the late MLA Nasiruddin Ahmed, I dedicate this victory to the motherland and people of Bengal,” she stated.Alifa, a 38-year-old engineer, left her company position at a Kolkata-based IT firm to enter politics, drawing inspiration from Mahua Moitra, the Trinamool MP from Krishnanagar—underneath which the Kaliganj Assembly section falls. Like Moitra, who traded her profession in funding banking for the political area, Alifa selected grassroots engagement and legislative advocacy over her former career.Meanwhile, a blast in Kaliganj in Naida district killed a 13-year-old lady prompting CM Mamata to take strict motion against the culprits.