BJP fields Tibrewal to take on CM in bypoll
KOLKATA: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday fielded advocate and vice president of party’s youth wing in West Bengal, Priyanka Tibrewal, against chief minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee for the September 30 by-election to the Bhabanipur seat.
Tibrewal was one of the petitioners who sought an inquiry into the post-poll violence in May, in Calcutta high court. The BJP proposed six names to the party leadership, out of which, Tibrewal’s was selected.
“This fight is not against any person. This fight is against injustice. The chief minister doesn’t belong to any party. She is the chief minister of West Bengal. But despite that, she kept silent during post poll violence. I am sure the people of Bhabanipur would understand why Nandigram didn’t vote for Mamata,” Tibrewal told reporters.
Banerjee, a resident of Bhabanipur, won the seat twice in 2011 and 2016 but shifted to Nandigram, where the anti-farmland acquisition movement against the Left Front government had transformed her into a major political force, to take on her former protege and now a BJP leader, Suvendu Adhikari.
Though the TMC chief powered the party to a resounding win for a third consecutive term in office, she lost the Nandigram seat to Adhikari by a narrow margin. Banerjee has to win the bypoll to become a member of the assembly in order to continue in the chair. She had taken oath on May 5 and must get elected within six months as per protocols. Reacting to Tibrewal’s nomination, veteran TMC leader and party spokesperson Tapas Roy said: “Let them (BJP) bring their central leaders and pit any one of them against Mamata Banerjee in Bhabanipur. When the results are declared, they would not find a place to hide as they would be defeated by a record margin.” While Srijib Biswas was fielded by the Left Front, the Congress has decided not to nominate a candidate for the election.
Counting for the polls is slated to take place on October 3.
CM Mamata files nomination
Banerjee on Friday filed her nomination for the Bhabanipur assembly by-poll.
Banerjee was accompanied by the wife of state cabinet minister Firhad Hakim at Survey Building in Alipore where she filed her nomination papers. She was later seen greeting people with folded hands before boarding her car. “The people waiting to avenge the conspiracy that was hatched to defeat Mamata di at Nandigram,” Hakim told reporters here.