Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], October 9 (ANI): West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Friday said welfare schemes had helped counter misconceptions among Bengali-speaking Muslims about the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), as the party led in the Nandigram and Rejinagar Assembly by-elections, according to Election Commission trends.
Vote counting is underway in the Nandigram and Rejinagar Assembly constituencies following by-elections held on October 6.
Speaking in Kolkata about the Rejinagar bypoll, Adhikari said a significant number of women from the Muslim community had received assistance under the Annapurna Yojana and pension schemes.
"In Rejinagar, 70,000 women, including 35,000 from the Muslim minority community, have benefited from the Annapurna Yojana. Who will they vote for? Consider the 84 lakh recipients of the Old Age and Widow Pension who received an extra ₹500; among them, 22 lakh are Muslims. Out of the 1.58 crore beneficiaries of the Annapurna scheme, 24 lakh are Muslim women. Mamata Banerjee, the CPM, and the opposition had created a misconception... However, people's experience has changed, and they have now aligned themselves with the government. Just watch the upcoming elections; you will see that the majority of votes, especially from Bengali-speaking Muslims, will go in favor of both the state and central governments,” he said.
“This is not a new trend; it is an old one. The people told Bengali-speaking Muslims that if the BJP came to power, everyone would be sent to Bangladesh and that they would receive no benefits... That claim has been proven false. Under PM Modi's leadership, we work for everyone; we work to strengthen nationalism and the spirit of 'Vande Mataram.' This approach has now entered the mainstream," he added.
Meanwhile, Union Minister Sukanta Majumdar expressed confidence in the BJP's performance in both constituencies, saying the early trends reflected public faith in the West Bengal government.
“This shows that the public has faith in the West Bengal government... We are winning both seats by a large margin,” Majumdar said.
Meanwhile, the Nandigram seat fell vacant after Adhikari won from two constituencies in the State Assembly elections earlier this year and chose to retain the other seat. The Rejinagar seat fell vacant following the resignation of Aam Janata Unnayan Party (AJUP) founder Humayun Kabir, who had also secured victory from Nowda.
According to the Election Commission's early trends, BJP candidate Sakharav Sarkar was leading in Rejinagar with 48,101 votes, followed by Aam Janata Unnayan Party candidate Golam Nabi Azad with 13,600 votes and Trinamool Congress candidate Rabiul Alam Chowdhary with 2,516 votes.
After round 12 of counting, Sarkar was leading in Rejinagar with 1,09,834 votes, followed by Azad (Robin) with 37,090 votes and All India Trinamool Congress candidate Rabiul Alam Chowdhury with 3,352 votes.
In Nandigram, after round 15 of counting, BJP candidate Hasi Rani Rath was leading by a margin of 1,64,427 votes. Congress candidate Milind Pradhan and CPI candidate Santi Gopal Giri were trailing with 41,674 and 5,779 votes, respectively. (ANI)
BJP ahead in Nandigram, Rejinagar bypolls; Suvendu Adhikari says welfare schemes busted "misconception" about party
