Sushmita Dev, a Bharatiya Janata Party leader, said the Trinamool Congress failed to send senior leadership to the Falta by-election [1].

The critique highlights a growing rift between the two major political forces in West Bengal. Dev's transition from the Trinamool Congress (TMC) to the BJP places her in a position to challenge the internal strategy and leadership visibility of her former party.

Dev said that no TMC leader went to Falta [1]. She said that this absence represents a strategic failure and suggested that the party must acknowledge its errors if it intends to regain political ground [1].

Addressing the history of the constituency, Dev said that Falta previously provided votes in abundance to the Trinamool Congress [1]. However, she described the current political climate as a conflict between two sides over the party symbol, which she identified as 'Flowers and Grass' [1].

The comments come as the BJP continues to challenge the TMC's dominance in the South 24-Parganas district. Dev's focus on the lack of senior leadership in the campaign suggests a perceived vulnerability in the TMC's grassroots mobilization during this specific electoral cycle [1].

By emphasizing the party's failure to deploy high-level campaigners, Dev is framing the by-election not just as a local contest, but as a symptom of broader organizational decline within the TMC [1].

“No TMC leader went to Falta.”

The criticism from Sushmita Dev reflects the high-stakes nature of by-elections in West Bengal, where the visibility of senior leadership is often viewed as a proxy for a party's confidence and stability. By highlighting a perceived vacuum in the TMC's leadership presence in Falta, the BJP seeks to project an image of a fading incumbent and an ascending opposition in the South 24-Parganas region.