BJP makes inroads into West Bengal Assembly, TMC retains Chowringhee

KOLKATA: BJP today made its debut in the West Bengal Assembly by winning the Basirhat Dakshin seat while Trinamool Congress retained the prestigious Chowringhee seat.

BJP's Shamik Bhattacharya won the Basirhat Dakshin seat in North 24 Parganas district by a margin of 1742 votes against its nearest Trinamool Congress rival and former Indian soccer captain Dipendu Biswas.

In 2011, Narayan Mukhopadhyay of CPI(M) had won the seat. TMC candidate Nayana Bandopadhyay retained the Chowringhee seat by a margin of 14,344 votes against her nearest rival BJP's Ritesh Tiwari.

In 2011 Assembly polls, Sikha Mitra, then with Trinamool Congress, had won the seat.