West Bengal bypolls: BJP ahead in four seats, AITC leading in three

Bengal is looking forward to a saffron storm, with the BJP racing towards an impressive score in the byelections to eight Assembly constituencies, in consonance with its surge in the parliamentary polls in the state, according to the initial EC trends.

The saffron party is currently ahead in four of the eight Assembly seats, where bypolls were held following the death of a legislator, and resignations by seven sitting MLAs who gave up their seats to contest the Lok Sabha polls.

The ruling All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) is leading in three seats, while the Indian National Congress (INC) is ahead in one.

At Bhatpara, Pawan Kumar Singh of the BJP is leading by 11,421 votes against ruling All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) candidate Madan Mitra.

In Darjeeling, Neeraj Tamang Zimba of BJP is leading by 6,929 votes against Gorkha Territorial Administration (GTA) chairman Binoy Tamang, who is fighting as an independent candidate with the support of AITC.

In Habibpur seat, Joyel Murmu of BJP is leading by 4,229 votes against Amal Kisku of the AITC. In Islampur seat, Abdul Karim Chowdhury of the AITC is leading by 17,597 votes against S Mandal of the BJP.

Janis Shafiul Alam Khan of the INC is ahead of Goutam Roy of the AITC by 248 votes in Kandi Assembly seat. In Krishnaganj, Ashish Kumar Biswas of the BJP is leading by 3,098 against Prathama Ranjan Bose of the INC.

In Nowda, Sahina Mamtaz Begum (Khan) of the AITC is leading by 14,847 against Sunil Kumar Mondal of INC. In Uluberia, Idris Ali of the AITC is leading by 2,312 votes against Pratyush Mandal of the BJP.