The Trinamool Congress (TMC) won a clean sweep of six West Bengal assembly constituencies in the recent bypoll elections, despite continued protests over the RG Kar rape-murder case and calls for Chief Minister and Party Chief Mamata Banerjee's resignation.
Byelections were held in Naihati, Haroa, Medinipur, Taldangra, Sitai (SC), and Madarihat (ST) after many sitting Members of Legislative Assemblies (MLAs) resigned following their victories in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, reports Mint.
TMC won all of the seats. The elections, which were held on November 13, were viewed as a critical test for the ruling party in a politically tense environment, with protests over the RG Kar case growing.
Given that the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) hoped to gain electoral traction from the continuing protest, these elections were viewed as a crucial political test for the state's ruling party.
To recall, junior doctors all across West Bengal have been protesting against the West Bengal Government over the rape-and-murder of a 31-year-old female postgraduate trainee (PGT) doctor at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata which happened on August 9.
The medicos criticised the West Bengal government for the security lapses in public hospitals, as well as the lack of safety of women in the state.
Further, the doctors, as well as opposition parties BJP and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) alleged that the TMC’s “goons” disrupted a vigil meeting at the hospital on August 14 to “destroy evidence” of the case, and the West Bengal government led by Mamata Banerjee was involved in a “cover-up” of the incident.
