Announcing the name of the candidates for the West Bengal Assembly polls, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday said she will be contesting from the Nandigram constituency as announced earlier.
The incumbent Trinamool Congress (TMC) has announced the list of 291 candidates and left three seats for its ally Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM).
Addressing a press conference here, Banerjee said she will contest from Nandigram and not from the Bhowanipore constituency, from where she has been the sitting MLA since 2011.
“We are the first political party to announce the candidate list. Today, we are releasing a list of 291 candidates, which includes 50 women, 79 SCs, 17 STs, and 42 Muslim candidates. On three seats of north Bengal, we are not putting up our candidates. In three seats — Darjeeling, Kalimpong, and Kurseong — Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) will contest the elections and whoever wins will support us,” Mamata said.
“I will contest from Nandigram as I stick to my words. From Bhowanipore constituency, Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay will be contesting in the upcoming Assembly elections,” she added.
Notably, Suvendu Adhikari is the current MLA from Nandigram. Adhikari, once a close aide of Banerjee and TMC leader has now switched to BJP in December, last year.
Several BJP leaders took to Twitter to criticize Mamata’s move to fight the elections from Nandigram.
The National in-charge of BJP’s Information & Technology department, Amit Malviya tweeted, “A nervous Mamata Banerjee not only deserts her traditional seat of Bhowanipore but also keeps the option of contesting Tollygunge open. In the press she slips in, “I may contest too” while announcing Arup Biswas’s name for the seat! Pishi is sensing defeat…”
A nervous Mamata Banerjee not only deserts her traditional seat of Bhowanipore but also keeps the option of contesting Tollygunge open. In the press she slips in, “I may contest too” while announcing Arup Biswas’s name for the seat!
Pishi is sensing defeat…#PaliyeGeloMamata pic.twitter.com/qrfF8nChg6
— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) March 5, 2021
West Bengal BJP chief Dilip Ghosh tweeted, “1.1 Facing evident defeat, Mamata makes her historic ‘Long-Jump’ from Bhawanipore to Nadigram! You can run, but you cannot hide! Forget Nadigram, there is no safe-seat for Mamata anywhere in Bengal!”
1.1 Facing evident defeat, Mamata makes her historic ‘Long-Jump’ from Bhawanipore to Nadigram!
You can run, but you cannot hide! Forget Nadigram, there is no safe-seat for Mamata anywhere in Bengal !— Dilip Ghosh (@DilipGhoshBJP) March 5, 2021
Mamata Banerjee to contest from Nandigram, gives up Bhowanipore#PaliyeGeloMamata
– https://t.co/rp0yPncLJD— Babul Supriyo (@SuPriyoBabul) March 5, 2021
Nandigram is important for the TMC as nearly 14 years ago, after the Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPI(M) government decided to build a special economic zone (SEZ) in Nandigram, a movement sprung out from the area. Several villagers who needed those lands for agriculture were angered by the move.
The district saw several incidents of violence in 2007, but the killing of 14 unarmed villagers in Nandigram in police firing on March 27 led to harsh criticism of the Left Front government. It was then that Mamata sprang into action along with her party and started the Nandigram movement. The movement damaged the image of the Left Front government and eventually lead to its fall.
The Nandigram movement became a significant matter for the Trinamool Congress for contesting the state elections. The TMC fought the elections on the promise of giving back the rights and lands of people. Significant to note, Suvendu Adhikari also accompanied Banerjee in the anti-land acquisition movement in Nandigram and played a key role in expanding the party’s base in West Midnapore, Purulia, and Bankura.
With its “pro-people politics,” the Trinamool Congress won the panchayat elections in 2008, Lok Sabha elections in 2009, municipal polls in 2010, and lead to the fall of the Left Front government from power in the 2011 elections after registering a massive victory.
The Trinamool Congress is now faced by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the upcoming Assembly Elections. Notably, the saffron party has gained momentum in West Bengal in recent years. Significant to note, the BJP secured 18 out of the 42 Lok Saha seats in West Bengal in the 2019 General Elections.
Meanwhile, West Bengal Assembly elections are slated to be held in eight phases starting from March 27 with the final round of voting taking place on April 29. The counting of votes in the state will take place on May 2.
(With ANI Inputs)