BJP’s biggest star campaigner, Narendra Modi, failed to turn the tide in favour of the saffron brigade in Bengal. Out of the 23 campaigns (public meeting and roadshow) undertaken by Narendra Modi covering 27 Lok Sabha constituencies in Bengal, BJP has lost 20 seats.
Prime Minister-elect Narendra Modi ended three-month-long campaign with mega roadshow in Kolkata on May 29. (Photo: PTI)
Kolkata,UPDATED: Jun 7, 2024 13:33 IST
Prime Minister-elect Narendra Modi began his 2024 Lok Sabha election campaign in Bengal on March 1 with the BJP’s first “Vijay Sankalp” rally at Arambag in Hooghly. With the BJP aiming big gains in Bengal, Narendra Modi had a special focus on the state. He ended the three-month-long campaign with a mega roadshow in Kolkata on May 29. During this period, Narendra Modi addressed 22 public meetings and conducted one roadshow, his first ever in Kolkata.
With the results now out, a closer look shows that BJP’s biggest star campaigner failed to turn the tide in favour of the saffron brigade in Bengal. Out of the 23 campaigns (public meeting and roadshow) undertaken by Narendra Modi covering 27 Lok Sabha constituencies in Bengal, BJP has lost 20 seats.
Infact, BJP has failed to retain 5 seats – Coochbehar, Bankura, Medinipur, Barrackpore and Jhargram, which they won in 2019 despite Narendra Modi’s campaign this year.
In Coochbehar , Union Minister of state Nisith Pramanick was the BJP candidate. Narendra Modi addressed a mammoth rally in support of his junior colleague in the union council on April 4. Pramanick lost to TMC’s Jagadish Chandra Basunia by a margin of 39,250 votes. Another Union Minister, Subhash Sarkar, lost his Bankura seat to the TMC this year despite Narendra Modi’s campaign for him.
BJP’s Agnimitra Paul lost to TMC’s June Maliah at Medinipur, a seat that was won by former Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh in 2019. Ghosh, who was shunted out of Medinipur this time, lost the Bardhaman-Durgapur seat where Narendra Modi had campaigned. He lost to TMC’s cricketer turned politician Kriti Azad by a handsome margin of 1,37,981 votes. BJP failed to retain Barrackpore and Jhargram despite Narendra Modi addressing rallies in both these seats.
At the high profile Krishnanagar seat, Narendra Modi came twice, addressing two public meetings for BJP. The party had fielded Amrita Roy of the erstwhile Krishnanagar royal palace against TMC’s Mahua Moitra, who had been expelled from the last Lok Sabha. Moitra won the seat with a margin of 56,705 votes. Infact, Narendra Modi had personally spoken to Roy and Rekha Patra, BJP’s Basirhat candidate, over the phone after their names were announced as BJP candidates. Both lost.
Narendra Modi also conducted his first ever roadshow in Bengal for Kolkata North BJP candidate Tapas Roy. Roy, a veteran TMC MLA who recently switched sides to join the BJP, was fielded from the prestigious Kolkata Uttar seat against TMC veteran Sudip Bandopadhyay. Roy lost by a margin of 92,560 votes.
Results show, the BJP failed to breach TMC’s dominance in south Bengal despite hectic campaigning by Narendra Modi himself. BJP has lost most of the seats in the region where Narendra Modi campaigned. These include Arambagh, Hooghly, Barasat, Bolpur, Barrackpore, Howrah, Uluberia, Jhargram, Jadavpur, Mathurapur and Bardhaman Purba.
The seven winning seats where Narendra Modi had canvassed for BJP are mostly from north Bengal – Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Raiganj, Balurghat, Maldah Uttar and two seats from Jungalmahal region, Purulia and Bishnupur. All of which the BJP won in 2019 as well.
Published By:
Shweta Kumari
Published On:
Jun 7, 2024
Tune In
>>> Read full article>>>
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source : IndiaToday – https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/lok-sabha-election-results-2024-bjp-lost-most-seats-where-narendra-modi-campaigned-in-west-bengal-2550194-2024-06-07?utm_source=rss
