Mamata wins Bhowanipore seat, moves into Assembly

Chief Minister defeats CPI(M)'s Nandini Mukhopadhyay by 54,213 votes

It was raining good news for West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday. She won the Bhowanipore Assembly by-election by a convincing margin of 54,213 votes and her party emerged triumphant in the Basirhat Uttar by-election in North 24 Parganas district.

Ms. Banerjee defeated her rival Nandini Mukhopadhyay of the Communist Party of India(Marxist) marking her maiden entry into the Assembly, though she had been consistently elected to the Lok Sabha since 1984, except in 1989.

While Ms. Banerjee received 73,635 votes, Ms. Mukhopadhyay, a professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the Jadavpur University, polled 19,422 votes.

Having assumed the office of the Chief Minister after giving up her Railway portfolio at the Centre, Ms. Banerjee was required to contest the polls within six months of taking charge.

Senior Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee congratulated her on the win and said: “It is an indication of the steps that she has taken since assuming office. It is a great victory.”

Ms. Banerjee's triumph was underscored by the fact that despite a fall of around 18 per cent in voter turnout in the by-election in comparison to the percentage during the Assembly election held in April-May, she received a record margin of votes.

Trinamool candidate A.T.M. Abdullah, contesting from the Basirhat Uttar seat, also posted a comfortable victory against the CPI(M) candidate Subid Ali Gazi by a margin of 30,941 votes.

Trinamool strength rises to 185

With Mr. Abdullah's victory, the strength of the ruling party in the 294-seat Assembly rose to 185, while CPI(M)'s came down to 39.

The Basirhat Uttar seat, which was won by the CPI(M) in the last election, fell vacant after MLA Mustafa Bin Quasem died on May 29.

The Bhowanipore seat was won by the Trinamool candidate Subrata Bakshi by a margin of 49,939 votes in the last election. He vacated the seat on August 19 to make way for party chief Ms. Banerjee.

The Bhowanipore seat falls in the Kolkata Dakshin Lok Sabha constituency from where Ms. Banerjee had won the 2009 Lok Sabha election.