West Bengal: BJP announces Ashish Goyal as party candidate for Kaliganj constituency bypoll

Bye elections in Kaliganj will be held on June 19 and counting will take place on June 23. The seat fell vacant following the death of TMC MLA Nasiruddin Ahamed.

Meanwhile, the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) announced Alifa Ahmed as their candidate for the Kaliganj elections.

TMC shared a post on their official 'X' handle and informed about the development. "AITC, under the inspiration and guidance of Chairperson Mamata Banerjee, we are pleased to announce the candidate for the upcoming West Bengal Legislative Assembly By-election scheduled for 19th June, 2025", the 'X' post read.

Bypoll in West Bengal's Kaliganj are important for the incumbent TMC state government due to the recent developments in the state. The TMC government has been under radar due to various issues, especially due to the Murshidabad violence.

Following the violence in Murshidabad, the Calcutta High Court had set up a fact-finding committee to investigate the incident.

The fact-finding committee submitted its report on the Murshidabad violence, highlighting that "Attacks were directed by a local councillor," adding that local police were completely "inactive and absent".

As many as 113 houses were affected badly in the village of Betbona during the violence.It stated that the majority of residents had taken shelter in Malda, but all of them have been forced to return by the police administration in Betbona village.

"The West Bengal Police did not respond. The villager of Betbona called at 4 p.m. on Friday and 4p.m. on Saturday but police did not pick up the call," the report said.

"A man came back to the village and saw which houses were not attacked and then the miscreants came and set fire to those houses," the report added.

Referring to the murder of Haragovinda Das (74) and his son Chandan Das (40), the report states, "They (rioters) broke down the main door of the house and took (Chandan Das)" and took his father [Haragovinda Das] and "hit them with an axe in the back. A man was waiting there until they died." (ANI)