Kolkata, 12 October (H.S.) : The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday held a victory rally in Kolkata to celebrate its big wins in the Nandigram and Rejinagar Assembly by-elections. Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari and state BJP president Samik Bhattacharya led the procession and addressed a public meeting from a stage near Victoria House. With the Kolkata Municipal Corporation elections in view, the Chief Minister appealed to voters in Kolkata and Howrah to give a triple engine government. Mamata's Trinamool questioned how the BJP received permission for a meeting at a spot where gatherings are prohibited under a court order.

The rally began in front of the BJP's old state office on Muralidhar Sen Lane in North Kolkata. In the front row, along with the Chief Minister and the state president, was the party's national general secretary Sunil Bansal. State general secretaries Jyotirmoy Singh Mahato, Locket Chatterjee and Shashi Agnihotri took part, as did Hasirani Rath and Shakharav Sarkar, the winners from Nandigram and Rejinagar. The meeting was held in front of the Income Tax building, where Mamata Banerjee used to hold her July 21 rally every year.

In his address, the Chief Minister effectively kicked off the campaign for the municipal polls. At Modi ji's word, you gave us the double engine (the same party in power at the Centre and in the state), he said. Now, at the Chief Minister's word, you will have to give the triple engine. You will have to give Howrah and Kolkata. Promise me. He said he had made a similar appeal in Nandigram, when he called for defeating Falta, and was now asking for Kolkata and Howrah from the road.

Commenting on the by-election results, Bhattacharya said, There was no bloodshed, no bombings, no booth capturing, no houses demolished with JCBs, no arson, no attack on candidates. He said the people of West Bengal made a change in 2026 to be free of one-party, monopolistic political dominance. According to him, the work of the four-and-a-half-month-old government was reflected in the results of both seats.

Both leaders also claimed that minority voters backed the BJP in these constituencies. Adhikari said a perception had been created that the BJP wins only on Hindu votes. He said a community had been told that its religious practices would be restricted if the BJP came to power, but it was now standing with development in the mainstream. He noted that even in Rejinagar, a minority-dominated seat, the Mamata Trinamool candidate forfeited his deposit. Attacking former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, he alleged that before the elections an attempt was made to divide society along Bengali versus non-Bengali and caste lines.

Trinamool has objected to the venue. The party said that on July 21 this year, police denied it permission to observe Martyrs' Day at the same spot, citing a 2018 court order that bars gatherings there. Beleghata MLA Kunal Ghosh asked, If gatherings are prohibited there under a court order, then with whose permission did the BJP build a stage? He recalled that a complaint was lodged against Trinamool leaders for measuring the ground with tape for a proposed stage in front of Victoria House. Trinamool leader Sovandeb Chattopadhyay said, A competition to break the law is on in every field. They are in government and can do as they please.

BJP North Kolkata organisational district president Tamoghna Ghosh said, The people of West Bengal have made Trinamool irrelevant. We have nothing to say about what leaders rejected by the people's mandate are saying.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Satya Prakash Singh