New Delhi : With the BJP trailing in the Bankipur assembly seat, once represented by party president Nitin Nabin, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders on Monday took a swipe at the saffron party, claiming that its "bad time has started" and dubbing the bypoll trend the "beginning of the end".
The TMC's reaction came as Jan Suraaj Party chief Prashant Kishor maintained a comfortable lead over BJP's Neeraj Kumar in the Bankipur assembly bypoll in Bihar, as per the latest Election Commission trends.
Taking to X, TMC Rajya Sabha leader and joint secretary Derek O'Brien said, "Scene I: Modi-Shah pluck out obscure MLA from Bihar to make him their rubber stamp National President. Scene II: Bankipur Assembly seat falls vacant, a seat BJP won by 52000. Scene III: BJP announce candidate & then change. Scene IV: BJP whipped in bypoll," he said.
TMC Lok Sabha MP Mahua Moitra told PTI the BJP's "bad time has started".
"They could not hold even their president's seat. They are trailing in Datia also. Only one of the three seats they could retain," she said.
A by-election was necessitated in Bankipur, a stronghold of the BJP, after the seat fell vacant following the elevation of Nabin to the Rajya Sabha, shortly after he assumed the role of BJP national president.
According to Election Commission, in Madhya Pradesh's Datia assembly bypoll, Congress candidate Ghanshyam Singh was leading BJP's Ashutosh Tiwari by 6,583 votes after the eighth round of counting.
The BJP retained the Manjalpur assembly seat in Gujarat, where its candidate Satish Patel defeated Congress nominee Bhikhabhai Rabari by 30,630 votes.