BJP's Tafajjal Hossain, who wrested the minority-dominated Boxanagar Assembly seat in Tripura's Sepahijala district from the CPI(M) in the by-election by more than 30,000 votes is now the new poster boy of the saffron party.
More than 66 per cent of the voters in the Boxanagar Assembly constituency belong to the minority community and the constituency was a CPI(M) stronghold.
Mr Hossain's win in the minority-dominated Boxanagar Assembly constituency in Tripura is seen as politically important for the BJP, who are accused of ignoring the interest of minority people in the northeastern state.
Tafajjal Hossain polled 33,849 votes in the by-election to the Boxanagar seat while CPI(M)'s Mizan Hussain got only 3,884 votes.
For the first time in 25 years, the Communists lost their stronghold Boxanagar. Riding on the aggressive campaign led by Chief Minister Manik Saha and his cabinet colleagues, the BJP defeated the CPI(M) in its bastion.
"For the past 40 years, the people of Boxanagar were fooled by the CPI(M) and Congress. Today the people have taken revenge for the ill-treatment meted out to them", Hossain told reporters after winning the by-election from Boxanagar.
"In the 2023 February election, the electors were misled by the Communists. This time we have been able to remove misconceptions about BJP. The result is with us as the CPI(M) candidate lost his deposit", he said.
Mr Hossain said people voted in large numbers for the BJP to teach the CPI(M) a lesson.
"In the assembly election in February, 2023, the CPI(M) won the seat by misleading people of the minority community. But this time, they voted for the BJP in large numbers to teach the CPI(M) a lesson. The CPI(M) will be reduced to a party of the past soon," he claimed.
"The CPI(M) knew they would lose the election. That's why it boycotted the counting," he said.
The by-election to the Boxanagar constituency was necessitated by the death of CPI(M) MLA Samsul Haque. The CPI(M) had fielded Haque's son Mizan Hussain to garner sympathy vote in the by-election but failed to win the seat.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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