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BJP leader Adhikari files papers from Nandigram
Kolkata: Suvendu Adhikari, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader and one-time protege of chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday, filed his nomination from Nandigram constituency to take on his former mentor in what promises to be one of the most watched contests in the West Bengal assembly elections, which will be held in eight phases starting March 27
Kolkata:
Suvendu Adhikari, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader and one-time protege of chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday, filed his nomination from Nandigram constituency to take on his former mentor in what promises to be one of the most watched contests in the West Bengal assembly elections, which will be held in eight phases starting March 27. The Nandigram contest is scheduled for April 1.
Adhikari was flanked by two central ministers, Smriti Irani and Dharmendra Pradhan, as he filed his nomination at the sub-divisional office in Haldia.
Banerjee already filed her nomination on Wednesday. She later sustained injuries on her leg following an alleged attack and was discharged from the state-run SSKM hospital in Kolkata on Wednesday.
Located around 100 km south of Kolkata, Nandigram is a historically important for the TMC as mass movements against land acquisitions in the area in 2006-08 paved the way for Banerjee’s political resurrection. It is also in south Bengal, where 240 of the state’s 294 assembly constituencies fall.
The nondescript town is all set for the big political battle and is decked up with banners, posters, cut-outs and wall graffiti of the two leaders. Both the TMC and BJP have come up with their own helipads and Banerjee has also rented a house to stay in Nandigram amid the polls.
The TMC posters portraying Banerjee say that Bengal wants its own daughter, and the BJP posters in favour of Adhikari say that Nandigram wants it Bhoomiputra (son of soil).
“The people of Nandigram will teach Adhikari a lesson. The people will show him who is an outsider and who is the daughter of Nandigram,” TMC spokesperson Tapas Roy said.
The Left-led grand alliance has fielded CPI(M)’s youth leader Minakshi Mukherjee from this seat. Mukherjee also submitted her nomination on Friday.
On Friday, attacking the TMC for a series of chit fund frauds that have defrauded investors of hundreds of crores, Adhikari said only the BJP would be able to return the money to the depositors if it came to power.
“Only the BJP can return you your money by selling off the assets, which the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has seized, once it comes to power. No one else will be able to give you the money back.”
The TMC, however, hit back .
“Two central agencies – the Enforcement Directorate and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) – have been investigating the cases since 2013-14. How can he say that if the BJP comes to power, it will return the money by selling off the assets seized by central agencies? He is making false promises,” TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said.
During the 2016 assembly elections, Adhikari won over 67% of the votes as a TMC candidate and defeated his nearest rival of the CPI by a margin of 81,230 votes.
Citing “extremely deep rot” with the TMC, he quit the party in December last year and joined the BJP in the presence of Union minister Amit Shah in Midnapore.
Meanwhile, Irani also targeted the chief minister, saying that the latter can continue playing with the lives of the people while Prime Minister Narendra Modi looked after the welfare of the state.
“Khela hobe (the game is on). You (Banerjee) have played with the lives of people and respect of women. Your game has turned the soil of Bengal red with blood. Have you played with Bhawanipore or do you want to play with Nandigram? You can play while Modi will bring development. A real transformation will be brought by Modi. Bengal has decided that the TMC will go and the BJP will come,” she said.
