As dusk descends over Kaliganj, a quiet yet compelling by-election brews beneath the surface of West Bengal's charged political landscape. The ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) is confident of a sweeping victory, the Bharatiya Janata Party is campaigning with renewed fervor and the once-mighty Congress-Left alliance finds itself fighting for relevance in a seat it once owned.
Yet, this Thursday’s by-election is not merely a contest for a single assembly seat— it is a symbolic litmus test of legacy, political allegiance, identity politics and shifting electoral equations in Bengal’s heartland.
For the Trinamool, Kaliganj is not a seat to worry about, but a story they intend to retell as one of progress and personal connection. The party moved swiftly, naming Alifa Ahmed, daughter of the late MLA Nasiruddin Ahmed (Lal), as its candidate— an educated, urbane figure with corporate flair and deep local roots. Her candidacy, Trinamool leaders claim, is a confluence of emotional appeal and merit.
Kunal Ghosh, TMC state General Secretary, asserted confidently, “Alifa is qualified, popular and symbolises a new generation of leadership. The people will vote for development, not division.” Echoing the sentiment, Jayaprakash Majumdar, TMC’s state Vice-President, predicted a victory margin exceeding 50,000 votes, citing weak opposition networks and the enduring goodwill of Alifa’s late father.
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TMC has also deployed an arsenal of ministers, MPs and MLAs to leave nothing to chance. The party’s strategy is clear— consolidate its base, attract disillusioned Congress voters and present itself as the true inheritor of Bengal’s secular-progressive legacy.
The BJP, never a serious contender in Kaliganj until 2021, is treating this by-election as a campaign for the future. Minority-heavy Kaliganj has historically been hostile terrain for the saffron party, yet this time it has mobilised aggressively, fielding Ashish Ghosh, and roping in heavyweights like Sukanta Majumdar and Shuvendu Adhikari.
According to Jagannath Sarkar, BJP MP and the party’s election in-charge for Kaliganj, the goal is not just to close the gap— it’s to consolidate the Hindu vote, currently estimated at 80 percent in their favor, with a target of pushing it to 90 percent. “This is not a vote to form the government,” Sarkar stated candidly. “It’s a fight for influence and the cracks within TMC’s ranks could work to our advantage.”
He also alluded to internal dissatisfaction within TMC over Alifa’s candidacy, suggesting that resentful factions within the ruling party may cross-vote or withdraw support silently. “The future of many TMC leaders is at stake if Alifa is confirmed as the face of Kaliganj,” he hinted.
Still, a ‘miserable defeat’ here would be politically costly for the BJP— both for morale and optics.
Once the undisputed rulers of Kaliganj, Congress and the Left now stand as faded shadows of their former selves. From 1951 to 2021, the seat has seen Congress rule for 44 years, and RSP (Left) for 20. But in this by-election, even saving their deposit is uncertain.
Their joint candidate is in the fray, but their presence in the field appears more symbolic than competitive. Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Congress stalwart, acknowledges the ground reality, “Our organisational strength is weak. The political movement had long lost momentum. But we’re back. We are fighting.”
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CPM leader Sumit De remains cautiously optimistic. “We are going door to door. People are expressing fatigue with this bipolar narrative of TMC and BJP. If we can disrupt that idea, that would be our biggest win— even if we don't take the seat,” he said.
Kaliganj, once the stronghold of the Congress and then the Left, now sees these two parties clinging to relevance. Meanwhile, BJP and TMC, traditionally outsiders here, have emerged as the principal combatants. The TMC, which lost the seat in 2016, reclaimed it in 2021, riding on Nasiruddin Ahmed’s popularity.
Even if the BJP had absorbed all of Congress's votes in 2021, it still wouldn’t have been enough to topple the TMC. But in 2025, the saffron party hopes to benefit from disillusionment and division— especially in a seat with 2.5 lakh voters.
At its heart, the Kaliganj by-election is not just a question of who wins the seat— but rather, which party's narrative survives.
Will TMC’s pitch of legacy and development keep its fortress intact? Will the BJP’s silent arithmetic of polarization bear fruit in a hostile demographic? Or will the Congress-Left, long relegated to the margins, spark a flicker of revival?
As Kaliganj votes, Bengal watches closely. The outcome here may not shift legislative arithmetic, but it could reshape political narratives, reveal deepening divides and hint at what lies ahead in the 2026 Assembly showdown.
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