BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari has put up a direct challenge to Mamata Banerjee
BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari launched an attack today at his former colleague Mamata Banerjee for her decision to contest the West Bengal assembly election from Nandigram, the seat where he was MLA from Trinamool Congress till he switched to BJP.
Analysts say the Chief Minister's announcement that she would contest from a second seat, apart from Bhawanipore, has taken the wind out of Mr Adhikari's planned offensive as now he has to either contest against her in a tough fight or look for a safer seat, but one that might make him look weak.
However, Ms Banerjee contesting from Nandigram also makes Mr Adhikari her direct rival. Till now only junior Trinamool Congress leaders were countering him, but the party chief will have to step in fully.
"She (Mamata Banerjee) will contest elections from Nandigram. She should get a letter pad ready with the words 'former CM' written on it," Mr Adhikari at a rally in Purba Medinipur district today, news agency ANI reported.
Mr Adhikari's fresh attack comes a day after he challenged that he would quit politics if he or any candidate the BJP fields at Nandigram failed to defeat Ms Banerjee by a margin of 50,000 votes.
Ms Banerjee announced Monday she would contest the assembly election, only months away, from Nandigram as "it has a place in my heart". However, the BJP has claimed that she is afraid of the outcome in her traditional Bhawanipore seat, where in the 2019 general election Ms Banerjee's party was ahead of BJP by a sliver - some 5,000 votes. "Mamata Banerjee knows Bhawanipore is not a safe seat for her anymore. That's why she is also going to Nandigram" Bengal BJP chief Dilip Ghosh said on Monday.
At a rally in Nandigram, Ms Banerjee said the decision to contest from Nandigram had dawned as a faint idea, only to become stronger. "I was thinking about it, now I have said it. I like the idea. It's a little rural, it has a place in my heart, it's a place I love. I may not be able to give you a lot of time during the polls. Because I have to fight in 294 seats. So, you do what is needed. After elections, I will do all the work you want me to. OK?" Ms Banerjee said, to which the crowd thundered its approval.
Over the years, Mr Adhikari emerged as one of the Trinamool Congress's top leaders because of his clout in Nandigram, which made the party almost unbeatable in rural Bengal. In 2007, Mr Adhikari snatched Nandigram from the Left, catapulting the Trinamool Congress to power.