NEW DELHI: All India Trinamool Congress candidate Alifa Ahmed secured a sweeping victory in the Kaliganj Assembly bypoll, defeating BJP’s Ashish Ghosh by a margin of 50,049 votes—surpassing the 2021 win margin of her late father, Nasiruddin Ahmed, whose passing in February prompted the election in West Bengal’s Nadia district.Congress candidate Kabil Uddin Shaikh, backed by the Left, finished third with 28,348 votes. The byelection, held on Thursday, saw a voter turnout of 69.85% by 5pm and was largely peaceful, aside from a few isolated incidents.Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee expressed gratitude saying, “People of all religions, castes, races and walks of life in the area have blessed us immensely by exercising their right to vote in the by-elections to the Kaliganj Assembly constituency. I humbly express my gratitude to them. The main architects of this victory are mother, soil, and people. My colleagues from Kaliganj have worked tirelessly for this. I also extend my heartfelt congratulations to them.““My greetings and salutations to everyone. In memory of the late MLA Nasiruddin Ahmed, I dedicate this victory to the motherland and people of Bengal,” she said.Alifa, a 38-year-old engineer, left her corporate role at a Kolkata-based IT company to enter politics, drawing inspiration from Mahua Moitra, the Trinamool MP from Krishnanagar—under which the Kaliganj Assembly segment falls. Like Moitra, who traded her career in investment banking for the political arena, Alifa chose grassroots engagement and legislative advocacy over her former profession.Meanwhile, a blast in Kaliganj in Naida district killed a 13-year-old girl prompting CM Mamata to take strict action against the culprits.
