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BJP Wins Rejinagar Bypoll Amid Opposition Rigging Allegations
The BJP won a by-election in Rejinagar, a constituency where most voters are Muslim.
Its candidate, Shankharavh Sarkar, won by a large margin.
The article says the BJP received unusually high numbers of votes at several booths where all voters were Muslim.
Leaders from AJUP, CPM and Congress said the election was rigged and accused police and election officials of helping.
Some local residents also said police stopped them from voting.
The BJP and Sarkar denied the rigging claims.
The article does not provide an independent finding about whether those claims are true.
BJP candidate Shankharavh Sarkar won the Rejinagar bypoll by 75,816 votes, with 1,29,914 votes overall.
BJP’s tally rose from 64,660 in the earlier election to 1,29,914 in five months; AJUP candidate Golam Nabi Azad received 54,098 votes.
The article reports that BJP won 90–94 percent of votes in some polling stations, including booths described as having exclusively Muslim voters.
AJUP, CPM and Congress leaders alleged that police and election officials enabled vote rigging; the BJP and Sarkar rejected the allegations.
Some Rejinagar residents said police turned voters away, while the article lists high BJP totals at the cited booths.
- Who
- The BJP, whose candidate Shankharavh Sarkar won; AJUP, CPM and Congress leaders raised allegations of rigging.
- What
- The BJP won the Rejinagar Assembly by-election, while opposition parties and some residents alleged vote rigging and voter obstruction.
- Where
- Rejinagar Assembly constituency, Murshidabad, West Bengal, including the cited polling booths.
- When
- The result was declared on Friday; the article says the bypoll took place five months after the previous election.
- Why
- AJUP leader Humayun Kabir vacated the Rejinagar seat after choosing to retain Nowda, prompting the by-election.
Opposition and residents
BJP
Whether the election was rigged
Opposition and residents
AJUP, CPM and Congress leaders alleged that BJP supporters, police and election officials enabled rigging; some residents said police turned voters away.
BJP
Sarkar rejected the rigging allegations and said the victory belonged to the BJP and the people of Rejinagar.
Meaning of the result
Opposition and residents
Opposition leaders said the result did not reflect the people's will and compared it to alleged election manipulation elsewhere.
BJP
Sarkar described the result as a BJP victory and said the party's objective was Rejinagar's development.
Key facts
- BJP candidate
- Shankharavh Sarkar
- Winning margin
- 75,816 votes
- BJP vote totals
- 1,29,914 in the bypoll, compared with 64,660 five months earlier
- AJUP candidate
- Golam Nabi Azad (Robin), who received 54,098 votes
- Earlier AJUP result
- Humayun Kabir received 1,23,536 votes in Rejinagar
- Constituency electorate
- The article says Muslim voters make up 70 per cent of Rejinagar's electorate.
- Cited booths
- The article provides vote figures for six booths it describes as having 100 per cent Muslim voters.
Quotes
Shankharavh Sarkar
BJP candidate who won the Rejinagar bypoll
“No woman from the village (Khagrupara) went to vote. The police drove away the men who tried to vote. Yet, we now hear that 951 votes were polled in the booth where I am enrolled. On election day, those who could enter the booth were inked and forced out. It is not hard to understand that the police rigged the election in favour of the BJP.”
telegraphindia.com
“The police stood by while BJP-RSS rigged booth after booth. For two months before the bypoll, they arrested our workers and imprisoned them on false charges. At least 60 of our leaders and workers remain in jail. Despite this, our candidate secured over 54,000 votes. It goes to show our genuine support base.”
telegraphindia.com
Sources
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