BJP declares star campaigner list for Bhabanipur bypoll, TMC harps on '2 missing names'

Besides declaring Priyanka Tibrewal as its Bhabanipur candidate, BJP also released a list of 20 star campaigners for this high-stakes by-election on Friday. Amid criticism for its over-reliance on the Central leadership, the saffron party has deputed only 4 leaders from outside West Bengal for the poll campaign this time- Union Ministers Hardeep Singh Puri and Smriti Irani, Bihar Industries Minister Shahnawaz Hussain and Lok Sabha MP Manoj Tiwari. Prominent WB BJP leaders such as state chief Dilip Ghosh, Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, Rahul Sinha, Roopa Ganguly and Locket Chatterjee also feature in the list.

Interestingly, former Union Minister Babul Supriyo who had announced his retirement from politics has also been named as a star campaigner. Taking a dig at this list, TMC spokesperson Derek O'Brien highlighted the absence of two prominent BJP leaders in the list. This was perceived as a reference to PM Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah who played a crucial role in the 2021 WB Assembly election campaign. 

Here is the list of BJP star campaigners: 

The battle for Bhabanipur

Accepting TMC turncoat Suvendu Adhikari's challenge to fight from Nandigram in the 2021 Assembly polls, two-time Bhabanipur MLA Mamata Banerjee lost by a narrow margin of fewer than 2000 votes. While she moved the Calcutta HC against Adhikari's victory in Nandigram, the TMC supremo has to get elected within a period of 6 months i.e by November 4 to continue as the Chief Minister. At present, only Banerjee and Finance Minister Amit Mitra are the two non-MLAs in the WB Council of Ministers. 

Soon after the election, WB Agriculture Minister Sovandeb Chattopadhyay resigned as the Bhabanipur MLA paving way for Banerjee to contest from there. Taking into account the state Chief Secretary's assurance that the COVID-19 situation is under control, the Election Commission of India declared that by-elections to Bhabanipur, Samserganj and Jangipur will be conducted on September 30. The counting of votes is scheduled for October 3.

Banerjee's BJP opponent Priyanka Tibrewal, who unsuccessfully contested the West Bengal Assembly polls from Entally, is also a practicing advocate in the Calcutta High Court and the Supreme Court. She was also one of the petitioners who moved the Calcutta HC over the post-poll violence in the state. Ultimately, a 5-judge Constitution bench directed that all cases of murder and crimes against women including rape pertaining to the post-poll violence will be transferred to the CBI. Moreover, it entrusted all other cases referred by the NHRC to an SIT comprising IPS officers Suman Bala Sahoo, Soumen Mitra, and Ranbir Kumar.