Bengal by-polls litmus test for TMC, BJP ahead of 2021

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With Amit Shah's pitch for a nationwide NRC exercise and the recent Ayodhya verdict having received mixed reactions from various quarters, the November 25 by-polls to three Assembly seats in Bengal will be a litmus test for the TMC and the BJP, ahead of 2021 state elections.

It will be the first electoral contest between the two parties since this year's Lok Sabha polls, which saw the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) emerging as the main opposition in the state, with 18 of the 42 seats in its kitty, just four less than that of the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC).

Two of the three Assembly constituencies - Kharagpur Sadar and Karimpur - fell vacant post general election as the sitting MLAs contested and won Lok Sabha seats.

By-polls were necessitated in Kaliaganj following the death of Congress MLA Parmathanath Roy.

Congress nominee Dhitashree Roy, also supported by the CPI(M), will take on TMC's Tapan Deb Sinha and BJP's Kamal Chandra Sarkar in Kaliaganj.

In Karimpur, vacated by MLA Mahua Moitra after emerging victorious from Krishnnanagar Lok Sabha seat, the CPI(M)-Congress candidate Gholam Rabbi is contesting against BJP's Jay Prakash Majumdar and TMC's Bimalendu Singha Roy.

Prem Chandra Jha of the BJP will take on Chittaranjan Mandal of the Congress-CPI(M) alliance and Pradip Sarkar of the TMC in Kharagpur Sadar Assembly seat - vacated by MLA Dilip Ghosh after winning Medinipur Lok Sabha seat