Haldia: Mamata Banerjee, the West Bengal Chief Minister and the head of the TMC, filed her nomination for the high-profile Nandigram assembly seat on Wednesday, where she will face off against her former protege and BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari.
Following a 2-kilometer roadshow, Ms Banerjee filed her papers at the Haldia sub-divisional headquarters, accompanied by party president Subrata Bakshi.
With Ms Banerjee opting to run for the seat against Mr Adhikari, who recently crossed over to the BJP, the Nandigram assembly constituency is poised for a high-octane fight.
After addressing a party workers’ conference, the TMC supreme paid her respects to the local Mazar, which is common among members of the minority community here, and then offered prayers at the nearby “Maa Chandi” temple.
SHE described herself as a “Hindu Brahmin,” chanted Chandi Path verses, said she didn’t need “people from Rajasthan and Gujarat” to tell her about Bengal, and made tea at a roadside stall. “Bhulte pari nijer naam, bhulbo nako Nandigram,” she proclaimed, citing her service in her previous constituency of Bhabanipur (I can forget my name, but never forget Nandigram)
Mamata promised to construct a university in honour of the “martyrs of Nandigram” (those who died in the 2007 anti-land acquisition struggle), stating, “Go see my Bhabanipur (her old constituency), all development work is done there.” I’m going to transform Nandigram into a Model Nandigram. There will be no joblessness in any home. Nobody will be left uneducated.”
The election in West Bengal will be held in eight stages, beginning on March 27 and ending on April 29. The election will be held on May 2nd, and the ballots will be counted. On April 1, the second of eight polling phases will be held in Nandigram, the birthplace of the anti-land acquisition campaign that propelled Banerjee to power in 2011.
The BJP has vowed to prevent the Trinamool Congress (TMC) led by Mamata Banerjee from returning to power for the third time in a row. The party is hoping to emerge as a serious challenger in the fight for power in the state, bolstered by its dominant performance in the Lok Sabha election in 2019.
