New Delhi, May 5 -- Rupa Ganguly won the Sonarpur Dakshin seat in the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections. She contested on a BJP ticket and defeated the Trinamool Congress incumbent, Arundhuti Maitra, by 35,782 votes. Outside Bengal, Ganguly is best known for playing Draupadi in BR Chopra's Mahabharat (1988-1990).

Ganguly received 1,28,970 votes, capturing around 52% of the total vote share. The win was part of a broader BJP sweep in the state. The party secured a majority to form the West Bengal government for the first time.

But, it was not the margin that made headlines. It was what she said afterwards.

In her post-victory remarks, Rupa Ganguly addressed what had become one of the strangest recurring themes of the Bengal election c...