West Bengal assembly elections 2021: After Mamata finalises Nandigram contest, BJP reacts

Trinamool Congress chief Banerjee claimed this is going to be a “soft election.” “This is a soft election, a smiley election. We will play, we will fight, we will win,” she said.

Soon after West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee announced she will be fighting from Nandigram in East Midnapore instead of her usual seat of Bhawanipore in the upcoming assembly elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) took potshots at her saying she was unsure of winning from her traditional seat in south Kolkata.

Chief Minister of West Bengal state and Trinamool Congress party leader Mamata Banerjee gestures as she arrives to announce the names of the party's candidates for the upcoming legislative assembly elections in Kolkata, India, Friday, March 5, 2021. The eight phased legislative assembly elections in the state are scheduled to begin on March 27. (AP Photo/Bikas Das) (AP)

Amit Malviya, head of BJP’s national IT cell, was the first to react. "If the incumbent chief minister is unsure of winning her traditional seat, it is because she has sensed strong anti-incumbency on ground. This is just the beginning,” Malviya tweeted.

In another tweet, the BJP leader said, “Mamata Banerjee, by relinquishing her traditional seat of Bhowanipore, has already conceded defeat, even before the first vote has been cast. Bring it on. Bengal is ready for change!”

He went on to say that Banerjee will soon lose out on everything in the state. “Pishi will soon see Ma, Maati and Manush (mother, solid and people) all slipping out of her hands. Bengal will finally see ashol poriborton (real change)," Malviya wrote on the microblogging site reiterating Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call for the state.

Trinamool Congress chief Banerjee claimed this is going to be a “soft election.” “This is a soft election, a smiley election. We will play, we will fight, we will win,” she told reporters as the TMC released its list of 291 candidates for the upcoming polls.

She had announced she will contest from Nandigram during a public rally in January. “Bhawanipore is my older 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 said.

As the names of several veteran leaders were missing from the list, the chief minister said, the party is going forward with a “mix-and-match of old-timers and young ones.” “Also, the names of those who are above 80 have been dropped because of the Covid-19 pandemic. We will try to include all these names in the state legislative council,” she said on Friday.

West Bengal will hold elections to 294 assembly seats in eight phases from March 27 to April 29. The results will be announced on May 2.