Left Front beats Congress, Mamta in West Bengal by-polls

KOLKATA/NEW DELHI: Congress, Left Front and Trinamool won a seat each in West Bengal by-polls, the first assembly by-elections after Mamata Banerjee parted ways with Congress. Congress, which had won all three seats in alliance with Trinamool, could retain only a seat by defeating a deserter who became a minister in the Mamata government, but the bigger story was the Left’s good show.

It won a seat and came second in the other two. The ruling Trinamool, which wrested one seat from Congress, stood third in the other two seats. Congress also won a seat each in Assam and Mizoram, while its ally NCP bagged a seat in Maharashtra. SAD and SP bagged a seat each in Punjab and UP, respectively. SP candidate Ashutosh Upadhyaya won the Bhatparrani seat in Deoria district.

In Maharashtra, NCP’s SB Kupekar won the Chandgad seat in Kolhapur district. Congress nominee Ngurdingliana won the Chalfilh seat in Mizoram. In Assam, Congress’ Mandira Roy wrested the Algapur seat. Mandira is wife of Public Health and Engineering Minister Gautam Roy.

Congress took a sweet revenge on Banerjee when Rabiul Alam Choudhury defeated its former MLA Humayan Kabir, who is now a TMC minister, in Rejinagar, of Murshidabad district. Kabir came third.

Trinamool secured the English Bazar seat in Malda district but fared badly in the bypolls to the other two seats coming third in constituencies which it was expected to win. State minister Krishnendu Narayan Choudhury bagged the English Bazar district with the LF nominee coming second.

LF candidate Dipak Chatterjee won from Nalhati in Birbhum district over Congress rival.