With the senior leaders deserting Trinamool Congress one by one, sensing an impending electoral catastrophe, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee has hinted at contesting from two seats in the upcoming coming assembly election. Mamata has declared that she would be contesting the upcoming Assembly polls from Nandigram town in Purba Medinipur district, West Bengal. Banerjee is at present the MLA from Bhawanipore in south Kolkata.
“I have always started my campaign for the assembly polls from Nandigram. It is a lucky place for me. So this time I feel that I should contest the assembly polls from here. I request our state party president Subrata Bakshi to approve my name from this seat,” Banerjee said, addressing a public meeting in the town for the first time in five years.
Mamata Banerjee urged voters of Bhawanipore, her current constituency, to bear with her. It was important for her to contest Nandigram as her party had to fight on all 294 assembly seats of Bengal, she said. “Bhawanipore, please don’t feel sad. I will give you a good candidate,” the 66-year-old promised. Later in her speech, she indicated that she may contest from both constituencies and said, “Nandigram is my big sister, Bhawanipore is my younger sister… I will fight from both if possible. In case I am unable to contest from Bhawanipore, someone else would contest.”
The Chief Minister’s return to Nandigram is being seen as a direct challenge to Suvendu Adhikari, who had led an exodus of Trinamool leaders to the BJP over the past few weeks. Over 40 Trinamool Congress leaders joined Adhikari as he defected to the BJP in a mega rally in December in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Suvendu Adhikari accepted Mamata Banerjee’s challenge and declared, “If I can’t defeat her by half lakh votes, I will quit politics.”
Responding to Mamata’s statement of contesting from Nandigram, BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayavargiya said that he defeat was certain from any of the 294 seats in the West Bengal assembly. Taking a jibe at Mamata, Vijayavargiya said, “Mamata Banerjee has announced in Nandigram that she will contest elections from there. Didi understood that she will lose in Bhowanipore. The defeat is assured from any of the 294 Assembly seats. You and your government are rife with corruption.”
Elections to 294 seats in West Bengal are slated to take place later in 2021.
