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As the Trinamool Congress (TMC) won all the seats in the West Bengal Assembly bypoll, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that out of four seats, her party has won back three seats that were formerly held by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and has retained one seat previously held by the TMC.
"Among the four seats, three were held by the BJP, both in the Lok Sabha and in the Vidhan Sabha. We have won all three and held on to our seat as well. That means four out of four. I express my gratitude to our people for this victory," Banerjee said speaking to reporters in Kolkata on Saturday after her visit to Mumbai. Thanking people for her party's victory the Trinamool supremo said, "We are dedicating our victory in the Lok Sabha polls and Vidhan Sabha polls to July 21...Despite all conspiracy, on one hand the BJP and on the other hand the agencies, people have voted for us." Speaking about Raiganj assembly bypoll, Banerjee said, "BJP and Congress made us lose (from Raiganj) by using money in polls. Then I asked Krishna Kalyani to contest the polls because he was the MLA from the region. He accepted the challenge and we are grateful to people for voting him to power." "In Ranaghat, Mukut Mani was a BJP MLA like Krishna Kalyani. After he joined our party, we gave him ticket. He lost the Lok Sabha polls from Ranaghat maybe due to false campaigning, hatred and conspiracy by the Election Commission. But he has won the Assembly bypoll this time. He was a BJP MLA. Ranaghat is a BJP seat that has now been won by the TMC," she added. Speaking about Bagdah assembly bypolls where the TMC has fielded their youngest candidate, Banerjee said, "In Bagdah as well, Biswajit (Das) lost the polls. But he is a good, strong leader. He said that he will contest in future but he is not willing to contest this seat now. So we fielded our youngest candidate, Mamatabala Thakur's daughter Madhuparna Thakur. Madhuparna has given a tough fight. People over there supported us and she has won." TMC's Supti Pandey has won the Maniktala assembly bypoll defeating BJP's Kalyan Chaubey. On the bypoll results in the rest of the country, the Chief Minister said that the BJP has managed to win only in two seats in the states where they are in power. "I have heard that BJP has fallen back all over the country. I think they have managed to win in two seats in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan where they are in power. I do not know what they have done there. In the rest of the seats, they have not won. So the trend all over India is against BJP," the Chief Minister said. Responding to claims from the Opposition that the BJP-led NDA will not be in power at the Centre for long, Banerjee said, "The trend is very clear. The mandate is not in favour of NDA, it is in favour of INDIA. It is not in favour of BJP. I may be wrong. But I heard that they (NDA) collectively got 46 per cent votes. INDIA has got 51 per cent votes. So the mandate is against them." Raising apprehension agains the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita which came into effect from July, the TMC chief said, "...I don't know what they have done with the Nyay Samhita Bill. Even doctors are afraid, journalists know how their life is in danger because of this Bill, freedom is at stake. Without any evidence, anyone can be victim of this Bill." Asking the central government to revisit the landmark criminal legislation, Banerjee said, "I request them to review it. Criminal Law is important. Even police, lawyers do not know which rules have changed. They have passed the Bill unilaterally without giving us any scope to understand the Bill." "We will pass resolutions against NEET and Nyay Sanhita Bill when our Assembly commences," she added. (ANI)
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