Bidhannagar gave Sharadwat Mukherjee a record mandate as the oncologist defeated his nearest rival Sujit Bose of Trinamul Congress by 37,330 votes.

This is higher than the margin of 35,925 votes that the fire and emergency services minister in the last government himself got when he won the seat created in 2011 after delimitation.

Mukherjee, a poll debutant, said there was “no such thing as a first time” when it came to contesting in elections. “This is like appearing in the Madhyamik exam every time. You have to start all over again, from zero,” he said.

He also contested the tag of heavyweight for his opponent. “The weight is only of corruption. The municipal scams (of South Dum Dum Municipality), the calls from ED-CBI — they will all take their course. We will see that he gets punished according to the law,” he said. Adding that he had nothing against Bose as an individual, he said his conflict was with Bose’s corruption.

Asked whether revenge would be taken with the change, he replied: “We do not believe in post-poll violence. Bodol-er songe bodlao hobe kintu seta aaini bodla (A change is imminent, so is revenge but it will be lawful revenge.) We are with the Constitution. The women who were assaulted in 2021, the workers from our party, from Congress and the Left Front, those cases were sent to the cold storage by chief minister Mamata Banerjee. They will be acted upon now,” he said, adding “Ram rajotya ashbe, susashon ashbe”.

BJP supporters celebrate the party’s landslide victory in front of the counting centre at Bidhannagar College on Monday

The morning showed the day as Sharadwat Mukherjee surged ahead right from the first round of counting, without falling behind in any locality across the 14 blocks of Bidhannagar Municipality and 10 wards of South Dum Dum Municipality that comprise the constituency. Both Bose and Mukherjee, as well as candidates of the CPM and the Congress, were inside the counting centre from the start.

But by the third round, with the BJP lead rising to 10,750, Bose was seen to walk out and drive off. “These were the results of counting in areas under the South Dum Dum Municipality, his own den, where he must have expected a handsome lead. When he found us leading even there, he understood things would get worse for him once the counting entered Salt Lake. He congratulated me before leaving,” Mukherjee told The Telegraph Salt Lake. Indeed, Bose lost even in his own polling booth in Sreebhumi.

The AD Block resident briefly left for home to take lunch with his elderly mother and returned soon after.

He emerged with the victor’s certificate around 8.30pm, accompanied by party functionaries like Umashankar Ghosh Dastidar and Mriganka Bhattacharya. While Bhattacharya, a leader from Bangur Avenue, had joined the party from TMC in 2021, Ghosh Dastidar of BJ Block has been a part of the BJP old guard. “I am working for the party from the time we had just two per cent vote share,” he said wistfully.

The new MLA of Bidhannagar went to the Kali temple in EC Block and the Khatu Shyam temple in FC Block straight from the counting hall.

How verdict day unfolded

The morning showed the day as Sharadwat Mukherjee surged ahead right from the first round of counting, without falling behind in any locality across the 14 blocks of Bidhannagar Municipality and 10 wards of South Dum Dum Municipality that comprise the constituency.

Both Bose and Mukherjee, as well as candidates of the CPM and the Congress, were inside the counting centre from the start. But by the third round, with the BJP lead rising to 10,750, Bose was seen to walk out and drive off.

“These were the results of counting in areas under the South Dum Dum Municipality, his own den, where he must have expected a handsome lead. When he found us leading even there, he understood things would get worse for him once the counting entered Salt Lake. He congratulated me before leaving,” Mukherjee told The Telegraph Salt Lake.

Sujit Bose of Trinamul Congress leaves the counting hall at 1pm after conceding a lead in South Dum Dum  

Indeed, Bose lost even in his own polling booth in Sreebhumi. (See Page 2)

The AD Block resident briefly left for home to take lunch with his elderly mother and returned soon after. He emerged with the victor’s certificate around 8.30pm, accompanied by party functionaries like Umashankar Ghosh Dastidar and Mriganka Bhattacharya.

While Bhattacharya, a leader from Bangur Avenue, had joined the party from TMC in 2021, Ghosh Dastidar of BJ Block has been a part of the BJP old guard.

“I am working for the party from the time we had just two per cent vote share,” he said wistfully.

The new MLA of Bidhannagar went to the Kali temple in EC Block and the Khatu Shyam temple in FC Block straight from the counting hall.