Bagdah bypolls: TMC’s Madhuparna Thakur set to become the youngest MLA in history of Bengal Assembly

Kolkata: Madhuparna Thakur, daughter of Trinamool Congress (TMC) Rajya Sabha MP Mamata Bala Thakur, won from Bagdah Assembly Constituency in the by-elections by a margin of 33,455 votes. She is set to become the youngest MLA in the history of Bengal Assembly.

Madhuparna secured 1,07,706 votes while BJP's Binay Kumar Biswas got 74,251. Left-Congress alliance candidate Gouraditya Biswas fell far behind polling just 8,189. In the last elections for this constituency in 2021, there were a total of five candidates: Biswajit Das (BJP), Paritosh Kumar Saha (TMC), Kirttaniya Prabir Bapi (Congress), Santosh Biswas (BSP). This seat was won by the BJP in the 2021 Assembly elections. In the 2016 Assembly poll, Congress candidate Dulal Bar won from this seat. In the 2011 Assembly elections Trinamool Congress candidate Upendranath Biswas won from Bagdah seat.

The biggest challenge for the 25-year-old Madhuparna was to overcome the influence of her cousin, a BJP leader and Union Minister Shantanu Thakur who has again been re-elected from the Bongaon Lok Sabha constituency this year. The pro-Trinamool faction of the organisation was led by Mamata Bala Thakur.

Madhuparna created a history by winning the by-elections from the Matua-infested Bagdah seat at the age of only 25 ending the BJP's dominance in the region. Till now late Trinamool Congress leader Subrata Mukherjee was the only political personality who became a member of the Assembly at a very early age.

Biswajit Das who contested on a BJP ticket in the 2021 Assembly elections from Bagdah after switching over from Trinamool Congress managed to secure a victory. Das again joined the Trinamool Congress ahead of Lok Sabha elections this year and contested the poll from Bongaon Lok Sabha seat on TMC’s ticket but lost to BJP’s Shantanu Thakur. Bagdah Assembly falls under Bongaon Lok Sabha. BJP had fielded Binay Kumar Biswas as its candidate for Bagdah bypoll this time.

After winning the seat, Madhuparna said: “The people of Bagdah have seen the development carried out by the Mamata Banerjee government. People have realized that BJP would do nothing for the development of the people.”