Kaliganj Bypoll On June 19: TMC Fields Deceased MLA's Daughter Alifa Ahmed

The Election Commission of India has announced the poll schedule for West Bengal's Kaliganj Assembly constituency in Nadia district. The assembly seat will vote on June 19 and the counting of votes will take place on June 23.  The last date for making nominations is June 2, and the date for the scrutiny of nominations is June 3. The last date for the withdrawal of candidatures is June 5.

Bypolls for the Kaliganj Assembly constituency were necessitated following the sudden demise of Trinamool Congress legislator Nasiruddin Ahmed in February this year at the age of 70. Ahmed got elected for the first time from Kaliganj in the 2011 West Bengal elections, which marked the end of the 34-year Left Front rule in West Bengal and the beginning of the Mamata Banerjee-led and Trinamool Congress-ruled regime.

However, he was defeated by Congress' Hasanazzamn Sheikh in the 2016 elections. After being out of the corridors of power for five years, Ahmed again got elected in the 2021 Assembly polls.

Trinamool Congress, on Tuesday, announced the name of Alifa Ahmed as the candidate for the bypolls to the Kaliganj Assembly constituency. Alifa Ahmed (38) is the daughter of Nasiruddin Ahmed.

The bypoll is perceived to be an acid test for the ruling Trinamool Congress and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee amid multiple controversies, including the loss of jobs of 25,753 teaching and non-teaching jobs in state-run schools in the state and pending payment of dearness allowance dues to the state government employees and others.

At the same time, the bypoll is also a challenge for the opposition BJP, and it is to be seen whether they can transfer the growing grievances of people on these issues in their favour.