TMC’s Alifa Ahmed Wins Kaliganj Assembly Bypoll, Defeats BJP by Over 50,000 Votes

The counting of votes for the Kaliganj Assembly bypoll was held on June 23, 2025. The byelection became necessary following the death of All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) MLA Nasiruddin Ahamed.

The Kaliganj Assembly seat, located in Nadia district of West Bengal’s South East Bengal region, falls under the Krishnanagar Lok Sabha constituency. This rural seat is classified as a general category constituency.

In the bypoll, three candidates contested to be elected as the next MLA. The TMC secured yet another dominant victory, strengthening its hold on the Assembly.

Trinamool Increases Vote Share Despite Lower Turnout

TMC candidate Alifa Ahmed, daughter of the late Nasiruddin Ahamed, won the seat with 1,02,759 votes, which accounts for 55.15 per cent of the vote share.

This marks an increase compared to her father’s 53.35 per cent in 2021, despite a 10.95 per cent drop in overall voter turnout.

BJP candidate Ashish Ghosh received 52,710 votes, securing 28.29 per cent, which is a decline from the 30.91 per cent vote share BJP had in 2021.

The Congress-Left alliance candidate Kabil Uddin Shaikh garnered 28,348 votes, increasing their share from 11.98 per cent to 15.21 per cent.

With this win, the TMC now has 228 MLAs in the 294-seat West Bengal Assembly. The BJP remains at 65, while the ISF holds one seat.

TMC’s Streak of By-Election Wins Continues

TMC leaders highlighted that the party has now won all 11 Assembly bypolls held within a year, including seats like Raiganj, Ranaghat Dakshin, Bagdah, and Madarihat, which were previously BJP strongholds. The margins of victory have also increased in these constituencies.

Though booth-wise data is yet to be fully examined, the result indicates that the BJP’s aggressive campaign focusing on majoritarianism has not yielded the expected results in the state.

A BJP insider admitted, “This approach, fuelled by bigotry and hate-plus-fear-mongering to polarise the electorate so that it yields poll dividends in our favour does not seem to be working in this essentially pluralist, inclusive state where politics of the bovine belt variety keeps failing spectacularly.”

Mamata Banerjee Thanks Voters, Pays Tribute to Late MLA

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee expressed gratitude to the people after the bypoll victory.

In a post on X, she wrote in Bengali, “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.”

She added, “The main architects of this victory are Ma-Mati-Manush (mother, earth 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.”

Dedicating the victory to the late Nasiruddin Ahamed, she said it was a tribute to the people and the motherland of Bengal.

BJP Focused on Hindu Vote Consolidation

BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari claimed that his party succeeded in consolidating Hindu votes, stating, “I have not seen the final results in detail yet…. The CPM-Congress got a little support in minority-dominated areas. Our aim was to consolidate the Hindu votes, which I believe we were quite successful in doing, in terms of strategy.”

However, BJP candidate Ashish Ghosh secured only 52,710 votes in a constituency with over 1.32 lakh Hindu voters, making up about 52 per cent of the total electorate.

Alifa Ahmed Credits Development Politics for Victory

Alifa Ahmed, a 38-year-old engineer who left her corporate job to enter politics, credited her victory to the people’s support for Mamata Banerjee’s development agenda.

She dismissed Adhikari’s claims, stating, “I do not agree, at all, that Hindus have not voted for us. We did receive significant leads from several Hindu-majority areas in my constituency.”

“We never target votes from any particular community… the mandate is once again very clearly against communal divide in Bengal,” she added.

Congress and Left See a Modest Rise in Vote Share

Congress’s Kabil Uddin Shaikh blamed the BJP for communal polarisation, stating, “Between Suvendu Adhikari and Sukanta Majumdar, the BJP had four meetings clearly urging Hindu voters to unite under them or face obliteration.

The minorities ended up uniting forces and voted en masse for Trinamool. The BJP and Trinamool together made sure the electorate was divided along communal lines.”

Despite finishing third, the Congress-Left alliance saw their vote share rise from 11.98 per cent to 15.21 per cent.

CPI(M) state secretary Md Selim expressed cautious optimism, saying, “The TMC and Bengal ran an extremely communal campaign, but the people of Bengal realise that it will not solve their basic problems… We will gain more in the coming days.”