Misconception Over NRC, Lack Of Campaign On CAB Led To West Bengal Bypoll Defeat, Say BJP Leaders

The West Bengal BJP unit has identified the “misconception over NRC” and its failure to counter it as one of the main reasons behind the party’s defeat in the just-concluded bypolls in three Assembly segments of West Bengal, a senior party leader said on Saturday. “Apart from the NRC issue, complacency of party workers in certain areas and absence of “free and fair” polling in some of booths had led to the party’s defeat,” he added.

“The Trinamool Congress (TMC) deliberately created panic and misconception over the NRC (National Register of Citizens), but we too failed to counter it with our narrative of the CAB (Citizenship Amendment Bill). This was one of the reasons behind the defeat. Apart from this, our cadre and leaders were complacent and did not work actively during the elections,” the BJP leader said after a post-poll assessment meeting that ended late in the evening.

West Bengal BJP chief Dilip Ghosh said the party’s failure to carry forward the success of the Lok Sabha polls in the state was due to lack of experience.

Earlier, Chief Minister and TMC president Mamata Banerjee said the victory of her party in the Assembly bypolls was people’s “mandate against the NRC”. She said that the BJP got paid back for showing “arrogance” and “insulting” the people of the state.

"We dedicate this victory to the people of Bengal.  This is a victory in favour of secularism and unity and is a mandate against NRC. The BJP is getting paid back for its arrogance of power and for insulting the people of the state.

"This mandate is against the politics of arrogance and people have outrightly rejected the BJP. They want to turn legal citizens of the country into refugees and send them to detention centres," Banerjee told a TV channel.

In a major boost for the ruling Trinamool Congress in West Bengal amid growing presence of the BJP, the party bagged all the three Assembly seats that went to bypolls on November 25 by trouncing the BJP. The TMC won the Kaliaganj, Kharagpur Sadar and Karimpur bypolls. The BJP emerged in the second position in all the three seats.