23 June,2025 03:19 PM IST | Kaliganj | mid-day online correspondent
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee. File Pic.
As the counting of votes from the recently held by-elections in Kaliganj, West Bengal, progressed on Monday afternoon, Trinamool Congress (TMC) party candidate Alifa Ahmed extended her lead by a margin of 33,255 votes, according to Election Commission trends reported news agency ANI.
The by-election in the constituency was necessitated following the death of TMC leader Nasiruddin Ahmed.
In a post on X, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee expressed her deep gratitude to the voters, thanking them for their overwhelming support, reported ANI.
"In the by-election of the Kaliganj Assembly constituency, people from all religions, castes, communities, and all walks of life have overwhelmingly blessed us by exercising their voting rights. I humbly express my gratitude to them," Banerjee wrote.
She further attributed the victory to the guiding values of Maa-Mati-Manush (Mother, Soil, People), emphasising, "The main architect of this victory is Maa-Mati-Manush. My colleagues in Kaliganj have worked tirelessly for this, and I extend my sincere congratulations to them as well."
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Banerjee also dedicated the win to the late legislator Nasiruddin Ahmed, stating, "In memory of the late legislator Nasiruddin Ahmed, I dedicate this victory to the people of Bengal - Maa-Mati-Manush."
The All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) had fielded Alifa Ahmed, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) put forward Ashish Ghosh, and the Congress nominated Kabil Uddin Shaikh in the Kaliganj by-polls, reported ANI.
Meanwhile, in a significant blow to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's LDF government in Kerala, UDF candidate Aryadan Shoukath of Congress defeated LDF's M Swaraj of CPI(M) by a substantial margin of 11,077 votes in the Nilambur assembly by-election.
As per the Election Commission website, Shoukath had secured 77,737 votes, leading M Swaraj of the CPM by 11,077 votes after 19 rounds of counting.
According to ANI, in the by-election for Gujarat's Visavadar, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate Italia Gopal defeated Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Kirit Patel by a margin of 17,554 votes. This by-poll was necessitated after AAP MLA Gurpreet Gogi died from a self-inflicted bullet injury in January this year.
Counting of votes for the by-polls - which were held on 19th June for two seats in Gujarat (Visavadar and Kadi), and one each in Nilambur (Kerala), Ludhiana West (Punjab), and Kaliganj (West Bengal) - commenced this morning.
(With inputs from ANI)
