To keep up the tempo against Mamata Banerjee. the BJP on Monday decided to field giant killer of 2021 polls - Suvendu Adhikari against Trinamool Congress supremo for both Nandigram and Bhawanipore assembly segments.
Notably in 2021 by-election the BJP had increased its vote share to over 35 per cent in Bhawanipore.
The Lotus party is banking on the cosmopolitan character of the constituency with a large number of Gujaratis, Marwaris, Sikhs and Biharis.
In her long political career, Mamata Banerjee has lost only two elections, the 1989 Lok Sabha polls in Jadavpur against Manini Bhattacharjee of CPI-M and and from Nandigram against Suvendu in 2021 assembly polls.
Suvendu is certainly one of key faces of the BJP in West Bengal. In the last five years as the leader of Opposition his entire political focus has been against the chief minister.
The BJP now wants to drive home a clear message that the party is serious about defeating the Trinamool ... so taking the battle to Mamata's home turf.
Notably, Singur and Nandigram were two hubs those catapulted Mamata Banerjee to power in 2011.
On multiple occasions, Adhikari has been heard saying, "I defeated her in Nandigram; this time I will defeat her in Bhawanipore as well. I will make her a former Chief Minister by a margin of 50,000 votes".
Suvendu Adhikari, a former TMC leader himself, had previously defeated Mamata Banerjee in Nandigram during the 2021 Assembly polls.
Suvendu Adhikari had polled 1,10,764 votes making about 48.49 per cent Mamata Banerjee could manage 108,808 - that is 47.64 per cent of votes.
Bhawanipore was the seat from which Mamata Banerjee contested and won in the 2021 by-election. The BJP's decision to field Adhikari from the constituency signals an aggressive strategy to challenge the Trinamool Congress leadership on its home turf.
Actor Rudranil Ghosh has been nominated from Howrah’s Shibpur. Former cricketer Ashok Dinda has been fielded from Moyna.
Former BJP state unit president and former MP Dilip Ghosh has been fielded from Kharagpur Sadar, Biman Mahto from Salboni, both in Paschim Medinipur district.
Sumita Sinha will contest from Kanthi Uttar in Purba Medinipur district, Biman Ghosh from Pursurah in Hooghly district, while Madhavi Mahalder has been fielded from Kultali in South 24 Parganas district.
BJP's first list also included: Bapan Ghosh from Kaliganj,
Dipak Kumar Halder from Diamond Harbour,
Agnimitra Paul from Asansol Dakshin,
Krishnendu Mujhkerjee from Asansol Uttar,
Nikhil Banerjee from Hansan, Sukumar Roy from Coochbehar Uttar and Shankar Ghosh from Siliguri.
Swapan Dasgupta be BJP's nominee from Rasbehari seat in south Kolkata.
The polls this year will be important in more ways than one and there are multiple issues at play.
An IT employee Monodip Sarkar – who works in Bengaluru – says : “The decline of Bengal did not happen overnight. The seeds were sown during the 34-year-old Left Front rule between 1977 and 2011. This was only deepened by TMC further.
Today, I am most being happy being a non-resident Bengali and I visit my parents twice in a year”. Such view was endorsed by Prashanto Nandi in Kharda region of the city outskirts."
Others talk about 'cultural vacuum' and gross 'appeasement' of goonda elements and minorities especially Muslims have opened avenues for the BJP to emerge as a challenger.
There is another vital facet. Over the decades, the BJP worked not only among upper caste Middle class Hindus – the Bhadralok – they also tried to win over weaker sections.
The BJP has expanded bases among Rajbongshis, Matuas, Namasudras, smaller Adivsi groups, Gorkhas and even Christians.
Resentment has also grown over allegations that Muslim communities cornered a disproportionate share of the OBC quota benefits. In other words – a fact not being realized even by the Leftists and the Congress – for a vast majority the BJP became a vehicle of protest against the entrenched hierarchy.
Economist Ashok Lahiri had won from the Balurghat seat in 2021 elections. The BJP has fielded Bidyut Roy from Balurghat this year.
The BJP has dropped its sitting MLAs from Arambagh, Goghat, Balarampur, Raghunathpur, Haldia and Kotulpur.
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