On Monday West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee made an announcement that she will contest elections from Nandigram constituency. She made the announcement challenging the new BJP joiner Suvendhu Adhikari.
After the announcement, Suvendhu Adhikari accepted the challenge by saying that either he will defeat Mamta Banerjee by 50,000 votes or he will quit politics if he fails to do so.
Banerjee also expressed her faith in Nandigram by saying “I have always started my campaign for the assembly polls from Nandigram. It is a lucky place for me. So this time I feel that I should contest the assembly polls from here. I request our state party president Subrata Bakshi to approve my name from this seat”. On the other hand Bakshi who was on the podium at the time of her request immediately accepted her request.
She also alleged Adhikari of looting for last five years and these kind of leaders leave the party to protect the money.
Nandigram was the massive protesting zone against “forcible” land acquisition by the then Left Front government for creation of a special economic zone.
These long protest often bloody protests were added to Banerjee’s party and this led TMC in power from 2011 and ended 34 years of left front rule.
On the other hand Seuvendhu Adhikari is seen as an influential leader and an oppositan in Nandigram constituency.
Banerjee’s decision of contesting elections from Nandigram will set TMC in a massive clash with Adhikari.
After his shift in BJP Adhikari has been a critic of Banerjee and he often allege her of forgetting the people and their development in the state because of whom she is in power.
As Mamta Banerjee is also a MLA from Bhawanipore, she also confessed “If possible, I will contest from both Bhawanipore and Nandigram. Nandigram is my elder sister and Bhawanipore is my younger sister. I will give a strong candidate from Bhawanipore also, in case I don’t fight from that seat”.
She ensured that she will never allow a handful of people to sell the power to incompetent BJP, “Those who have left the party have my best wishes. Let them become president and vice president of the country. But don’t you dare to sell out Bengal to the BJP. As long as I am alive, I won’t allow them to sell out my state to the BJP,” she said in her statement.
The announcement of TMC contesting elections from Nandigram will shock the party workers in East and West Medinipur districts and its adjoining areas, who were feeling confused about the aims and objectives of the party after the Suvendhu Adhikari’s exit.
Banerjee also challenged Adhikari without mentioning his name that he will have to fight local TMC leaders before even dreaming of ruling the state.
She told the contribution made by her and her party in the districts of Nandigram and Singur against the forcible land acquisition by left front rule and alleged that BJP is doing the same mistake by undermining the ongoing farmers protests in the country.
She attacked the BJP by alleging that, “BJP is the biggest junk party in the country. BJP is not a political party but washing powder. It’s using moneybags and intimidatory tactics to lure or coerce TMC leaders into joining them”.
Pointing out the desertion of her own party she said BJP might have bought few leaders from opposition parties but cannot buy the people of the Bengal.
Mamta Banerjee showed confidence in TMC saying that TMC will win the third term also and will end any chance of BJP further.
She also said, though the BJP has bought some media housed who are favoring the saffron party for the upcoming polls but it is not going to win anyways.
