Mamata Banerjee's 2026 Endgame: A 226 Target, And Kolkata Dare For Ex-Aide

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will take on her lieutenant-turned-arch-rival, BJP's Suvendu Adhikari, in south Kolkata's Bhabanipur constituency in the upcoming Assembly polls, making this poll battle the clash of the titans this election season.

Banerjee, and her nephew and Trinamool general secretary, Abhishek Banerjee, announced the names of 291 candidates for the two-phase election to be held on April 23 and April 29. She said Trinamool won't contest three seats in Darjeeling as part of an understanding with the Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha.

Interestingly, Mamata Banerjee won't contest from the Nandigram seat in Purba Medinipur district, where she lost to Adhikari last time. Trinamool has fielded Pabitra Kar, a close aide of Adhikari who recently switched to Banerjee's party, in Nandigram.

The BJP yesterday announced its first list of 144 candidates. Adhikari, the Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, is fighting on two seats -- Nandigram and Bhabanipur. This is significant. While the BJP has not officially named a Chief Minister candidate for the Bengal polls, fielding Adhikari in two seats is an endorsement of his leadership in the poll campaign. This shows the party leadership's trust in Adhikari, who was once Banerjee's trusted aide and considered the unofficial Number 2 in the Trinamool Congress.

Nandigram is Adhikari's home ground. But fielding him in Bhabanipur is an open challenge to Mamata Banerjee. The Trinamool Congress chairperson has dominated South Kolkata's electoral battlefield for decades. Before she became Chief Minister and vacated the seat, Mamata Banerjee won the South Kolkata Lok Sabha seat six times in a row.

Banerjee Targets Election Commission

Before she announced the names of Trinamool's poll candidates, Banerjee launched a scathing attack on the Election Commission over the transfers of the state's top administrative and police officers as soon as the model code of conduct kicked in. Questioning the poll body's hurry, Banerjee alleged that the officers appointed by the Election Commission were chosen at the BJP offices. "As the Prime Minister says, chun chun ke liya," she said, accusing the Election Commission of picking officers in collusion with the BJP.

Without naming Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, she said, "Why are you acting from behind the clouds?" and dared him to join the BJP campaign. She alleged that the new officers have been chosen to help the BJP move cash and arms in the run-up to the polls. 

Trinamool Chief's War Cry

Banerjee said the Trinamool Congress will win 226 seats in the upcoming election, 11 more than its 2021 score of 215. "I tell the BJP, why are you so scared? Without misusing agencies and bringing people from outside, let's fight politically."

The Chief Minister reassured party leaders and workers who could not make it to the candidate list. "All those who could not be accommodated in the candidate list will be accommodated in the organisation," she said.

She said this is a fight for Bengal's existence. "Bengal and its Maa, Mati, Manush will win. Delhi's laddoo won't. You have taken all our powers, but you cannot take our manpower. Remember, people cast votes," she said.