For First Time, Didi Loses Grip on Muslim Votes; BJP, AJUP, Congress, CPI(M), ISF Win Seats in Minority Belt

Kolkata: In a first, a massive split has emerged in Trinamul Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee’s core votebank — the Muslim community that accounts for nearly one-third of the electors in West Bengal, resulting in her downfall after 15 years in power.

According to the Assembly poll results available so far, minister and Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind state president Siddiqullah Chowdhury lost to the BJP’s Saikat Panja by 14,798 votes at Manteswar in Burdwan East. The seat is among a dozen where the saffron party has succeeded in making a significant dent to the TMC chief’s foundation of Muslim voters. The list of 12 seats also includes Beldanga and Jangipur, among the eight won by the BJP in Murshidabad this time.

The party had won only two seats in the district in the last Assembly polls. Banerjee suffered further blows in Murshidabad.

Her former party MLA Humayun Kabir, who launched a new outfit, Aam Janata Unnyan Party (AJUP), and has undertaken the controversial construction of Babri Masjid-styled mosque, contested two seats – Nowda and Rejinagar – and won both.

The Congress reopened its account from the same district after losing deposits five years ago. Its candidate Motab Sheikh won at Farakka, which earlier belonged to TMC, by a margin of 8193 votes by snatching away Muslim votes. Another Congress candidate, Julfikar Ali, was seen leading at Raninagar in the district.

Among others in the opposition, CPM which lost its deposit in 2021, reopened its account from Murshidabad. Its candidate Mustafijur Rahman defeated retired IPS officer and Debra TMC MLA Humayun Kabir who contested at Domkol. That sole seat will protect the CPM’s national party status.

Similarly, Indian Secular Front MLA Noushad Siddiqui was leading at Bhangar in South 24 Parganas, which has a vast number of Muslim voters.