Kaliganj bypoll: How a girl's crude-bomb death tainted Trinamool's victory

India Today

6 hours ago

In a tragic turn of events that has once again laid bare the endemic political violence in West Bengal, a minor girl was killed in a crude bomb explosion in Mulundi village near Palashi, under the Kaliganj assembly constituency of Nadia district. The death on June 23 coincided with the declaration of results for the Kaliganj assembly bypoll, which the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) won by a significant margin.The girl, Tamanna Khatun, a Class 4 student, was critically injured in the blast and found lying on the verandah of her home in Barochandgar village—a known stronghold of the Congress-Left alliance. She died shortly after.advertisementLocals alleged that crude bombs had been hurled from a TMC victory procession, purportedly targeting the residence of a CPI(M) supporter. Tamanna, tragically caught in the blast, became the latest casualty in Bengal's long and blood-stained history of post-election violence.The girl's mother directly blamed the TMC, stating: 'They had been hurling bombs since morning. Those who did this are from the TMC. We are CPI(M) supporters. My whole family votes for the CPI(M).'
The incident sparked widespread outrage, with all major Opposition parties accusing chief minister Mamata Banerjee's party of fostering a culture of violence. The CPI(M) was quick to allege political motive, claiming that the victim's family had links to one of its party workers. Mohammad Salim, CPI(M) state secretary, charged: 'Not speeches, not sweets—bombs were thrown in the name of 'victory' in a bypoll! A minor girl was blown to death even before counting ended in Kaliganj. Only in Mamata Banerjee's Bengal can an election celebration look like a terrorist attack!'advertisementThe BJP launched a blistering attack as well. The party's IT wing chief Amit Malviya wrote on social media platform X: 'TMC's celebration ends with blood on its hands. Again. Bombs were hurled during TMC's victory rally in Muslim-majority Kaliganj. A little girl—Tamanna Khatun—was killed. TMC is not a political party; it is a gang of vultures.'Mamata expressed sorrow and promised swift action. 'I am shocked and deeply saddened at the death of a young girl in an explosion at Barochandgar in Krishnanagar police district. My prayers and thoughts are with the family in their hour of grief. Police shall take strong and decisive legal action against the culprits at the earliest,' she posted on X.The Krishnanagar police have arrested four prime suspects—identified as Adar Sk, Manowar Sk, Kalu Sk and Anwar Sk. The Election Commission has sought a detailed report on the incident.The BJP's Suvendu Adhikari ironically used the opportunity to highlight what he termed as a 'strategic breakthrough' in Hindu vote consolidation by his party. At a media conference, he presented detailed polling data from Kaliganj to support his claim. According to Adhikari, Kaliganj has approximately 110,000 Hindu voters, of which 66 per cent—or 72,600—cast their votes. The BJP, he said, received 52,710 of these votes, implying the party had secured a remarkable 72.6 per cent of the total Hindu votes polled.advertisementAdhikari noted that out of the 106 Hindu-majority booths in Kaliganj, the BJP had won in 105. In these booths, 60,175 votes were cast, with the BJP receiving 39,213. 'This is surely a beginning. What the Hindus of Kaliganj have done is exceptional. If a similar Hindu consolidation can be engineered in 2026 [assembly polls], TMC candidates can be defeated in at least 220 (of the total 294) seats,' he asserted.The TMC rubbished Adhikari's claims. In multiple statements, the party claimed Hindu voters accounted for 42-44 per cent of Kaliganj's population, which did not take the number to around 110,000. Out of these, if the BJP received 52,710 votes, as claimed, then the TMC had received at least 42,000 to 49,000 of the remaining Hindu votes. That accounted for 40-45 per cent of the Hindu vote-share, which shatters the myth that the BJP had monopolised the Hindu vote in Kaliganj, the TMC said.While the tragedy loomed large, the by-election itself carried strategic significance. The seat, which fell vacant following the death of TMC MLA Nasiruddin Ahmed, was retained by his daughter Alifa Ahmed. The 38-year-old B.Tech graduate working in a reputed IT firm secured over 91,000 votes, defeating the BJP's Ashish Ghosh, who got 40,146 votes; the Congress's Kabiluddin Shaikh finished third with 26,220 votes.advertisementThe TMC cornered around 55 per cent of the vote-share, the BJP 28 per cent and the Congress 15 per cent. Though a minor improvement for the Congress-Left combine from the assembly polls in 2021, both the alliance and the BJP saw a dip in their vote-shares when compared with the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.For the TMC, the result was a reaffirmation of its grassroots hold. As Mamata remarked: 'People of all religions, castes, races and walks of life have blessed us immensely. The main architects of this victory are 'Ma-Mati-Manush' (Mother, Soil, People).'Despite the celebratory mood within the ruling party, the death of Tamanna has cast a long, grim shadow over the bypoll. Once again, the electoral process in Bengal has been tainted by violence and civilian casualties. Civil society groups, rights organisations and Opposition leaders have all demanded a thorough and impartial inquiry, calling for accountability at the highest levels.The tragedy also reopens uncomfortable questions about the normalisation of violence in Bengal's political culture, especially during elections. 'It's a very unfortunate incident. We will nab the culprits,' said a senior police officer.advertisementBut for the family of Tamanna, no political promise or electoral statistic can compensate her death. In the charged rhetoric of Hindu vote-banks, minority clusters and booth-level engineering, it is the life of a girl that has become collateral damage—a stark and sorrowful reminder of the cost of Bengal's politics.Subscribe to India Today Magazine- Ends