Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, May 29: Bayron Biswas who created political ripples in West Bengal by winning the Sagardighi state Assembly seat for the Congress in a by-election three months ago, on Monday deserted the party and crossed over to the ruling Trinamool Congress.
Biswas was the lone representative of the Congress which could not win a single seat in the state Assembly elections in 2021.
The victory of the Left supported Congress candidate on March 2 in the by-election from Sagardighi was seen as a success for the third political force in West Bengal. The left parties too like the Congress had won a single seat in the 2021 Assembly polls.
The victory of Biswas with a margin of 22,986 votes in a constituency with 75% minority population was also seen as a section of minority votes shifting away from the West Bengal ruling party. The development on Monday, however, has come as a shock for the West Bengal Congress leadership.
Biswas joined the Trinamool Congress at Ghatal in Paschim Medinipur in presence of ruling party’s general secretary Abhishek Banerjee. Speaking to media persons with Banerjee by his side, the MLA said the Congress party had no role in his victory at Sagardighi bypolls. The MLA told media persons that he has realized it was extremely difficult to continue politics if the person does not represent the ruling party.
Banerjee said the MLA had decided to join Trinamool Congress soon after winning Assembly by-polls. “He had realized that State Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury is not serious about taking on the BJP,” the Trinamool leader said. “In West Bengal, the fight is between Trinamool Congress and BJP. When Adhir Chowdhury says he will continue to oppose Trinamool Congress in West Bengal, who is he supporting?” Banerjee said, targeting the State Congress president.
Mr. Chowdhury alleged that Trinamool has overturned the mandate of the people who had elected Bayron Biswas on a Congress ticket. “In future we will try to have more honest candidates,” the Congress leader said. The defeat at Sagardighi had come as a major debacle to Trinamool Congress leadership. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had described the loss at Sagardighi as the result of an “immoral alliance” between the Left, Congress and the BJP.
The development assumes political significance as the Left parties and Congress were trying to replicate the Sagardighi model across the State in upcoming panchayat polls.
The defection of MLAs from Opposition parties to Trinamool is not new in West Bengal. Between 2011 to 2021, about 30 MLAs from Congress and Left parties had defected to Trinamool. Since the 2021 Assembly polls, more than six MLAs of the BJP from West Bengal have joined the Trinamool Congress. None of the MLAs who have switched political affiliation had resigned from the Assembly and faced bypolls.
On the question whether Bayron Biswas will resign and seek a fresh mandate of the people, Banerjee said since he was the only MLA representing the Congress, the anti-defection laws would not apply. He added that the Speaker of West Bengal Assembly would decide on the issue.
