Nandigram (West Bengal): Mamata Banerjee declared Monday she will contest the upcoming Assembly elections from Nandigram. It is the same place from where former Trinamool Congress (TMC) heavyweight Suvendu Adhikari had won in 2016. Mamata Banerjee said that she wants to take battle against the opposition on their hometurf. Adhikari recently quit the TMC and joined BJP.
That Banerjee chose Nandigram to make the big announcement reflects the TMC supremo’s determination to take on the BJP. The saffron party has launched a spirited campaign to unseat her after a decade-long stint in power, head on.
Addressing a rally here, Banerjee said she is not worried about those joining rival parties. She said they they were hardly around when the TMC was formed. Banerjee said these leaders left the ruling party to protect the money ‘they have looted’ in the last few years.
“I have always started my campaign for the Assembly polls from Nandigram. It is a lucky place for me. So this time I feel that I should contest the Assembly polls from here. I request our state party president Subrata Bakshi to approve my name from this seat,” Banerjee said. Bakshi, who was on the podium, swiftly accepted the request.
Nandigram was the scene of massive public protest against ‘forcible’ land acquisition by the then Left Front government. They wanted to create a special economic zone and that ultimately led to their ouster.
The protracted and often bloody protests added to Banerjee and her party’s political heft. It catapulted the TMC to power in 2011, marking the end of the Left Front rule of 34 years. Adhikari is considered the face of the movement in Nandigram, some 130 km south-west of Kolkata.
After switching over to the BJP, Adhikari has often accused Banerjee of having forgotten the people of the area. Banerjee is at present the MLA from Bhawanipore in south Kolkata.
“If possible, I will contest from both Bhawanipore and Nandigram. In case I am unable to contest from Bhawanipore, someone else will,” Banerjee informed.
Banerjee said she would never allow ‘a handful of people’ to sell out Bengal to the BJP.
“Those who have left the party have my best wishes. Let them become president and vice-president of the country. But don’t you dare to sell out Bengal to the BJP. As long as I am alive, I won’t allow them to sell out my state to the BJP,” asserted the West Bengal chief minister.
Assembly elections in the state are likely in April-May.
