Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Suvendu Adhikari on Tuesday asked Mamata Banerjee to prepare a letterhead describing her as the ‘former chief minster’, a day after the Bengal CM's announcement that she will contest the upcoming assembly elections from Nandigram. “Mamata Banerjee will contest elections from Nandigram. She should ready a letter pad with the words 'former CM' written on it,” Adhikari, who crossed over to the BJP recently, said while addressing a rally in Purba Medinipur district's Khejuri.
Banerjee had said on Monday she will contest the assembly elections from both Nandigram and Bhawanipore constituencies. Banerjee said that Nandigram is close to her heart and continues to remain special. “Bhawanipore is my elder sister and Nandigram is my younger sister. I will try to contest from both assembly constituencies. The people of Bhawanipore may feel bad. But I don’t want to hurt them. If I can manage (to contest from both constituencies) it is okay. But I will contest from Nandigram,” Banerjee had said at a rally in Nandigram on Monday.
The war of words between Adhikari and Banerjee began soon after the chief minister’s announcement. Adhikari challenged Mamata on Monday saying that he will resign from politics if he cannot defeat the Bengal chief minister by more than 50,000 votes. “Write this down and mention the date and time. I will leave politics if I cannot defeat her by half lakh (50,000) votes,” Adhikari said while addressing a rally in south Kolkata on the same day.
{{/usCountry}}The war of words between Adhikari and Banerjee began soon after the chief minister’s announcement. Adhikari challenged Mamata on Monday saying that he will resign from politics if he cannot defeat the Bengal chief minister by more than 50,000 votes. “Write this down and mention the date and time. I will leave politics if I cannot defeat her by half lakh (50,000) votes,” Adhikari said while addressing a rally in south Kolkata on the same day.
{{/usCountry}}The Bengal chief minister’s announcement has brought back Nandigram once more into the spotlight. Nandigram remains important for both the chief minister and Suvendu Adhikari as the movement to protect farmers’ lands from acquisition 13 years ago catapulted both of them into the nation’s political stage.
Adhikari was responsible for building the Trinamool Congress’ voter base in Jangalmahal, Nandigram and Purba Medinipur as the party’s youth leader. Adhikari since joining the BJP in December has vowed to remove the Banerjee's government from power.
Bengal will hold elections this year but incidents of political violence have cast a shadow over the polling process. Buoyed by its performance in the state in the Lok Sabha elections in 2019, the state’s BJP unit remains confident that it will oust Banerjee from power in West Bengal assembly elections.