Bhabanipur by-polls: Mamata Banerjee likely to launch campaign today

Polling will take place in Bhabanipur on September 30. On the same day, by-polls will also be held for two other assembly constituencies in Bengal – Jangipur and Samserganj.

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee is likely to launch on Wednesday her campaign for the upcoming by-polls in the eastern state. The Trinamool Congress (TMC) has fielded Banerjee from the assembly constituency of Bhabanipur, which she previously represented as an MLA. In the assembly elections held earlier this year, the TMC supremo contested from Nandigram but was defeated by her former aide, Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Suvendu Adhikari, in a see-saw contest.

West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee

Last Saturday, the Election Commission of India (ECI) announced that by-polls will be held on September 30 for three constituencies in West Bengal, including Bhabanipur, with counting of votes scheduled for October 3. The other two seats where the exercise will be held are Jangipur and Samserganj. The poll panel’s decision came after repeated representations from the TMC in this regard. Banerjee, who took oath on May 5 for a third straight term as the chief minister, has to be elected as an MLA by November 5 to continue in office.

TMC’s Sovandeb Chattopadhyay, who was elected from Bhabanipur, earlier vacated the seat for Banerjee to contest.

On Tuesday, the Congress announced it won’t field a candidate against her while the BJP is yet to take a call on who its candidate will be.

In the 8-phase assembly elections, which were held between March 27 and April 29, the Banerjee-led party secured a third straight term by winning 213 out of 292 seats for which polling took place. The BJP finished second-best with a haul of 77 seats. However, since then, its tally has come down as two legislators resigned to continue as Lok Sabha MPs while four, including Mukul Roy, have returned to the TMC.