MAMATA Banerjee throws gauntlet at Suvendu announcing to contest from Nandigram
AHEAD of the full Bench of the Election Commission of India’s arrival in Kolkata to finalize the nitty-gritty for the assembly poll, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has announced that she will also contest from the historic Nandigram constituency in Medinipur. She represents South Kolkata’s Bhawanipur as a lawmaker. Suvendhu Adhikari who represented the constituency in the 294-member West Bengal assembly has resigned from the Ministry headed by her and also as the member of the constituency to join the movement spearhead by BJP to oust what he called corrupt regime. Addressing a rally at Nandigram on Monday Mamata Banerjee said she would contest the upcoming Assembly polls from Nandigram as it is “a special place” to her. Political analysts speculated that the move to contest from Nandigram was aimed at former TMC leader Suvendhu Adhikari, who recently switched to the BJP. Movements at Nandigram and Singur in Hooghly district catapulted Mamata Banerjee to the political centre stage of Bengal. In the 2012 Assembly election, Banerjee with Suvendu Adhikari’s help, campaigned for farmers’ land in Nandigram and ousted the then Left government ruling the state uninterrupted for about 34 years.’’ I will contest from Nandigram assembly seat. If possible, I will contest from both Bhawanipur and Nandigram,” said @MamataOfficial. ‘I will defeat Mamata Banerjee by 50,000 votes. I will give up politics if I don’t do so’, says BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari after Mamata said she will be contesting from the Nandigram constituency’’. Meanwhile, clashes broke out between the BJP and the ruling TMC in South Kolkata during a roadshow by Suvendu with other BJP leaders on Monday. It was his first rally in the metropolis after leaving TMC. The rally was also attended by Union Minister Debashree Chaudhuri, state BJP chief Dilip Ghosh. Reacting to the Mamata Banerjee’s decision to contest from Bhowanipore to Nandigram, BJP said it indicates her political nervousness.