The BJP is banking big on the R G Kar Hospital rape-and-murder case to boost its chances in the six Assembly seats in West Bengal for which bypolls are to be held on November 13. The party had won only one of these constituencies in the 2021 Assembly elections, with five going to the ruling Trinamool Congress.

All the sitting MLAs got elected to Parliament in this year’s Lok Sabha polls, necessitating the by-elections.

While Sitai (SC-reserved), Naihati, Haroa, Medinipur and Taldangra were won by the TMC in 2021, the BJP was victorious in Madarihat (ST). In the seats won by the TMC, the BJP was the runner-up in four, while the TMC stood second in Madarihat.

“This is the first vote after the R G Kar rape and murder. Don’t you want to take revenge?” Leader of the Opposition and BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari has been telling voters, adding that a change of government in West Bengal is the only way to ensure justice for the hospital assault victim.

TMC leader Kunal Ghosh has accused the BJP of dragging in issues with no relevance to the elections. “The Assembly polls will be held on the issue of development. People will see who can ensure development and will vote accordingly,” Ghosh said, adding that the TMC could also raise incidents of sexual assault such as in Unnao and Hathras in Uttar Pradesh as well as others in Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat, as a counter. These are all BJP-ruled states.

“Basically, the BJP knows they will not win. So they are shouting about R G Kar,” said Ghosh.

Apart from winning five of the six Assembly seats up for bypolls, in the 2021 elections, the TMC also dominated the overlapping Lok Sabha constituencies this year. Only in two Assembly segments, of Madarihat and Medinipur, was the BJP ahead, by 9,000 and 11,000 votes, respectively.

The BJP is hoping that the anger reflected in the month-long R G Kar protests will now put it over the finishing line in Medinipur and Madarihat.

A senior TMC leader said this was wishful thinking. “The R G Kar protests tarnished our image, but our vote machinery remains intact. Plus, in a bypoll, the ruling party always has an advantage.”

Fighting charges of corruption, the TMC has fielded popular local faces, seen as having a clean image, for the bypolls. The BJP has similarly gone in for local faces, though two of them joined the party from the Left.

The two parties are in the thick of the campaign, with the second line of TMC leadership, such as ministers Sujit Bose, Firhad Hakim and Chandrima Bhattacharya, leading the charge. Their main plank is the TMC government’s popular welfare schemes such as Lakshmir Bhandar, Kanyasree, Yuvasree etc.

From the BJP side, the main face is again Adhikari, with state president Sukanta Majumder pitching in. Their plank is the alleged rising corruption and worsening law and order under the TMC government.

The Left and Congress, on the other hand, have failed to generate any momentum for the bypolls, including holding their coalition together. While five seats have Left Front candidates, it is backing ally Indian Secular Front nominee in the sixth. The Congress is separately contesting in all the six seats.

In 2021, when the Left and Congress contested together and failed to win a single Assembly seat, their candidates got 1.66% votes in Sitai, 10.11% in Naihati, 5.43% in Medinipur, 11.41% in Taldangra, and 4.24% in Madarihat.

Left leaders say their candidates may not be visible like the BJP or TMC’s, but are concentrating on house-to-house campaigns. A senior CPI(M) leader said: “We know we will not win, but we want to see if there has been a rise in our vote percentage post the R G Kar movement.”