Mamata flings down Nandigram gauntlet
THE WEST BENGAL CM SAID SHE WILL CONTEST POLLS FROM THE SEAT OF REBEL TMC LEADER ADHIKARI, WHO ACCEPTED HER CHALLENGE
Thirteen years after a violent movement against land acquisition began in Nandigram and eventually catapulted the Trinamool Congress (TMC) to power in West Bengal, chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday brought the small town in East Midnapore back into the political spotlight. Banerjee announced that she will contest the seat, and by doing so, she set the stage for what could possibly be the most high-profile contest — between the CM and her aideturned-rival Suvendu Adhikari — in the upcoming state polls.
That Banerjee made the announcement at a rally in Nandigram — Adhikari was elected legislator from the seat in 2016 — showed her intent to take the poll battle to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is hoping
KOLKATA:
to form a government in the state for the first time, according to analysts who said the decision could turn out to be a political masterstroke. It was the CM’S first public meeting in the area after Adhikari left the TMC for the BJP on December 19.
Hours later, Adhikari, who is from the East Midnapore district, appeared to have accepted Banerjee’s challenge. “I will leave politics if I cannot defeat her by half a lakh (50,000) votes,” Adhikari said at a rally in south
Kolkata’s Rashbehari. Polls are likely to be held in Bengal in April-may.
However, Adhikari, who will hold a tit-for-tat rally in Nandigram on Tuesday, was quick to add that the final decision to field candidates will be taken by the BJP leadership.
In Nandigram, Banerjee announced that she was likely to contest her south Kolkata stronghold of Bhabanipur — her existing seat — alongside Nandigram. The big announcement appeared to be impromptu.
“I am not announcing any name for the Nandigram assembly seat. I will announce it later. But I promise to field a good candidate who will stay here and work for the people,” she said.
And seconds later, she added: “How will it be if I contest from Nandigram ? It is a feeling that I shared. Nandigram finds a place