With just a few hours left before campaigning ends ahead of the second phase of the assembly elections on Thursday, top leaders of both the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are scheduled to hit the streets and hold a series of rallies and roadshows on Tuesday.
Union home minister Amit Shah is scheduled to participate in at least three roadshows, including one at Nandigram in East Midnapore, and one public rally in Diamond Harbour in South 24 Parganas. He will attend two more roadshows in Debra and Panskura.
Even though 30 assembly constituencies spread over four districts will be going to polls on April 1, all eyes will be on Nandigram where chief minister Mamata Banerjee will be contesting against her former protégé Suvendu Adhikari.
Also Read | ‘TMC Pvt Ltd’: Suvendu Adhikari slams Mamata, her nephew Abhishek in Nandigram
While Nandigram is Adhikari’s home turf, it has been a prestigious seat for the TMC because mass movements against land acquisition in the area during 2006-08 paved the path for Banerjee’s political resurrection and propelled her to power in 2011.
“Banerjee is scheduled to hold at least three public meetings and one roadshow in Nandigram today [on Tuesday]. She started camping in Nandigram from Sunday after the first phase elections were over. Since then she has been holding at least four rallies and roadshows every day apart from attending other meetings,” said a senior Trinamool Congress leader.
{{/usCountry}}“Banerjee is scheduled to hold at least three public meetings and one roadshow in Nandigram today [on Tuesday]. She started camping in Nandigram from Sunday after the first phase elections were over. Since then she has been holding at least four rallies and roadshows every day apart from attending other meetings,” said a senior Trinamool Congress leader.
{{/usCountry}}Four constituencies in the Sunderbans in South 24 Parganas – Gosaba, Kakdwip, Patharpratima and Sagar – will also go to polls.
These areas, comprising mostly islands , are TMC bastions. The BJP, which made impressive gains in other parts of the state including north Bengal and the tribal belt in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, failed to make any inroads in these areas.
The Mamata Banerjee government however had to face resentment among the people after the areas were hit by cyclone Amphan in 2020 and there were large-scale allegations of corruption.
“Shah has already held a rally in Gosaba on March 23 and is scheduled to hold a rally at Diamond Harbour in South 24 Parganas on March 30,” said a BJP leader.
While the chief minister will be concentrating on her own constituency in Nandigram, her nephew Abhishek Banerjee will be camping in South 24 Parganas to hold rallies and public meetings in the four constituencies.