Making a clean sweep in West Bengal, the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Saturday won all six Assembly seats in the by-elections.

With this victory, the Mamata Banerjee-led party has further consolidated its position in the State Assembly.

The bypolls were held in six constituencies — Sitai, Madarihat, Naihati, Haroa, Medinipur and Taldangra — on November 13 after the respective sitting MLAs, who had won the seats in the Lok Sabha elections earlier this year, resigned. In Sitai (north Bengal) and Haroa (south Bengal), TMC candidates clocked a victory margin of over one lakh votes.

Continuing its winning streak of Lok Sabha poll victory, the TMC retained five Assembly seats and wrested Madarihat seat from the BJP, which had cemented its control in the constituency in the 2016 and 2021 Assembly elections.

Litmus test for TMC

This time, the electoral contest was viewed as a litmus test for the TMC, which is facing protests over the rape and murder of a junior doctor at Kolkata’s State-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. The body of the on-duty doctor was found inside the seminar room of the emergency building of the hospital on August 9.

With the TMC cementing its dominance in West Bengal politics, Mamata Banerjee, the Chief Minister and party supremo, thanked voters on social media. “I would like to thank ‘Maa, Mati, Manush’. Your blessings will help us continue working for the people,” Banerjee posted. “We are custodians of the people, not zamindars,” she said.

Trinamool Congress National General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee, the party’s second-in-command, also took to social media to congratulate all six TMC candidates – Sangita Roy, Jayprakash Toppo, Sanat Dey, Rabiul Islam, Sujoy Hazra and Falguni Singhababu – for their victories against BJP candidates.

Taste of victory

“A special thanks to the people of Madarihat for giving us the opportunity to serve you for the first time. I bow before the people of West Bengal for democratically dismantling the Bangla Birodhis, their fake narratives and reaffirming their trust in us,” Abhishek said in a post on ‘X’.

BJP State President Sukanta Majumdar downplayed the significance of the by-election results. “Bypoll results cannot serve as a reliable indicator. Whether the people are with the Trinamool Congress or not will be reflected in the upcoming Assembly elections,” said Majumdar, adding that his party is hopeful of winning the 2026 Assembly polls.

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