West Bengal Assembly Election 2026: Mamata Banerjee backs out of Nandigram conte ...
In a major development for the West Bengal elections, Trinamool Congress has decided against fielding Chief Minister and party chief Mamata Banerjee from Nandigram. Instead, the Trinamool chief will take on Adhikari in Bhabanipur, widely seen as her political fortress.The Trinamool has fielded former BJP leader Pabitra Kar from Nandigram. A former BJP panchayat chief, who was known to be close to Adhikari, Kar rejoined the ruling TMC ahead of the announcement of seats.
Suvendu Adhikari to contest from Nandigram and Bhabanipur
Suvendu Adhikari, the Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, was named in the first list of candidates announced on Tuesday.
Suvendu Adhikari, who is the Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal assembly, was named in the first list of candidates announced on Tuesday. Besides his stronghold Nandigram, Adhikari will also contest from Bhabanipur, widely seen as Mamata Banerjee’s political fortress.
In 2021, Adhikari pulled off a major upset by defeating Banerjee by a narrow margin in Nandigram. While that result shocked the Bengal political landscape, the Trinamool Congress ultimately went on to win the general election comfortably.
Pabitra Kar vs Suvendu Adhikari in Nandigram
Pabitra Kar rejoined the Trinamool Congress in the presence of the party’s national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee.
The TMC, in a social media post, said Kar was “dissatisfied with the BJP’s anti-people stance”.
Kar, who quit the TMC in November 2020 to join the BJP, played a significant role in consolidating the saffron party’s organisational structure in the Boyal-1 area and was believed to have been instrumental in securing a lead for the BJP in the region in the 2021 assembly elections. Adhikari had defeated Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee by a slender margin of a little over 1,900 votes in Nandigram.
Kar taking up the TMC flag from Abhishek Banerjee, barely hours ahead of the scheduled announcement of the party’s candidate list, has led to fervent speculations in the state’s political circles that he may be pitted against Adhikari in the Nandigram assembly seat.
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