Madarihat: Toto community promises to support TMC

West Bengal: The Trinamool Congress (TMC) released a video presentation on its social media handle in which people from the Toto tribe of Madarihat were seen taking a pledge to make Trinamool supremo Mamata Banerjee’s candidate win in the upcoming by-election in Madarihat as they have benefited a lot from the state government’s Laxmiir Bhandar and other social schemes.

The Toto community members heaped praise on Mamata Banerjee as her government worked and brought developmental changes in various sectors from providing electricity to the area to road construction. “I want the Toto community to support Mamata didi and her candidate in the upcoming by-election in Madarihat as the state government has launched several development schemes in the state. Laxmiir Bhandar has helped a lot. We will all support Jay Prakash Toppo as he has done a lot of work for the people of the area,” a member of the Toto community was heard saying in the video.

By-elections will be held on November 13 on six assembly seats – Naihati, Haroa, Midnapore, Taldangra, Sitai and Madarihat. The Trinamool Congress has set a target of winning all the six seats. During the 2021 assembly elections, the ruling party in the state had won 5 of these 6 seats except Madarihat, where the BJP won. It is now a challenge for the BJP to retain the Madarihat seat as they failed to win a single assembly seat in the Bengal bypolls held after the 2021 assembly elections. The by-election in Madarihat has become necessary as BJP MLA Manoj Tigga has won the Lok Sabha elections from Alipurduar this year. The Trinamool Congress had achieved a clean sweep in the by-polls held in Bagdah, Ranaghat Dakshin, Maniktala and Raiganj earlier this year.