Murshidabad (West Bengal) [India], October 9 (ANI): BJP candidate Sakharav Sarkar is leading the Rejinagar Assembly constituency on Friday, saying the victory “belonged to the party and its ideological founders.”
After round 14 of counting, Sarkar was leading in Rejinagar with 1,29,914 votes, followed by Aam Janata Unnayan Party candidate Golam Nabi Azad (Robin) with 54,098 votes, Congress candidate Abdullahil Kafi with 6,168 votes, and Mamata All India Trinamool Congress candidate Rabiul Alam Chowdhury with 3,847 votes.
The counting of votes is underway in the Rejinagar Assembly constituency. The by-election was held on October 6.
“This victory isn’t mine; it belongs to the ‘Lotus’. This victory belongs to Syama Prasad Mukherjee, Dr Hedgewar… I have no personal claim to it. I hold no significant standing in Bengal,” Sarkar said.
He also spoke about his coordination with Adhikari on outreach to the minority community, “CM Suvendu Adhikari is the one engaging with the minority community. We are working together on this. I stand with him and follow his path. We are actively working in the industrial belt of Rejinagar.”
Earlier in the day, West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari said welfare schemes had helped counter misconceptions among Bengali-speaking Muslims about the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), as the party led in the Rejinagar Assembly by-elections, according to Election Commission trends.
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.
The Rejinagar seat fell vacant following the resignation of Aam Janata Unnayan Party (AJUP) founder Humayun Kabir, who had also secured victory from Nowda. (ANI)
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