In mega Nandigram battle, CM Mamata files nomination, BJP & Suvendu field star campaigners

Ahead of the West Bengal Assembly elections, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee took a helicopter and reached Haldia to file her election nomination for the Nandigram constituency on Wednesday. Earlier on Tuesday, the TMC supremo had visited Nandigram, where she had gone to temples, a mazaar and a church to offer prayers.

Meanwhile, BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari who was an aide of Mamata for years before jumping ship, will be filing his nomination from the Nandigram constituency on March 12. According to sources, Union Ministers Smriti Irani, Dharmendra Pradhan and Bollywood actor turned politician Mithun Chakraborty will accompany Adhikari when he files his nomination. 

Bengal Polls: All eyes at Nandigram

As the political battle between the parties in the poll-bound state of West Bengal intensifies, in a bid to counter each other, both TMC and BJP had planned their respective shows of strength, as ex-TMC and BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari on Wednesday held a roadshow and also inaugurated a new electoral office in the constituency. This comes after CM Mamata's rally in Nandigram on Tuesday where she made it clear that the Hinduism card should not be played against her. 

Third front alliance also sealed

Ahead of the West Bengal Assembly elections, the Left, Congress, and Indian Secular Front (ISF) have finalized their alliance. The Left parties that ran West Bengal for almost three decades before being defeated by Mamata Banerjee in 2011 will be contesting 165 seats. On the other hand, Congress and ISF will be contesting 92 and 37 seats respectively. Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the state's ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) have decided to go solo. 

BJP's saffron push

The saffron party is gearing for a tough battle in Bengal - aiming to attain more than 200 seats while fielding Suvendu Adhikari against Mamata Banerjee at Nandigram - releasing its first list of 57 poll candidates. The BJP had already politically divided Bengal into five parts - North Bengal, Rath Bang (South Western District), Nabadwip, Medinipur and Kolkata, handpicking Shivprakash, Sunil Deodhar, Dushyant Gautam, Bhikubhai Dalsania, Ravindra Raju,  Vinod Sonkar, Harish Dwivedi to work on booth levels in these regions. With over 65,000 booth committees and 14,000 Shakti Kendra constituted, the BJP has appointed five veterans as central observers - with the final call to be taken by Amit Shah. 

With BJP chief JP Nadda, Amit Shah, PM Modi holding regular public meetings, roadshows in Bengal, the saffron party has made its presence felt in Mamata Banerjee's bastion. BJP has also seen an inrush of disgruntled TMC leaders like - Suvendu Adhikari and his two brothers, Rajib Banerjee, Jitendra Tiwari, Vaishali Dalmiya, Dinesh Tiwari and recently Mithun Chakraborty. 

The BJP has also released its list of star campaigners for the West Bengal elections phase 1.

West Bengal polls

Mamata Banerjee-led TMC had swept the 2016 Assembly polls by bagging 211 seats in the 294-member Assembly. On the other hand, the BJP won 18 out of 42 parliamentary seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The saffron party has kickstarted a fierce campaign as it aims to unseat the TMC government. Both Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP president JP Nadda exuded confidence in the party winning more than 200 seats in the Assembly polls. The Congress-Left-ISF alliance is also in the poll fray while AIMIM too has announced its intention to make its political debut in the state. 

Announcing the dates of the Assembly polls on February 26, Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora mentioned that 18.68 crore persons will decide the fate of 824 seats in the aforesaid 4 States and one Union Territory at 2.7 lakh polling stations. In West Bengal, 294 seats are up for grabs and people will be able to cast their votes at 1,01,916 polling stations. As per the phases, the polling in the state will be conducted on March 27, April 1, April 6, April 10, April 17, April 22, April 26 and April 29. The counting of votes shall take place on May 2.