Kolkata: After emerging as the face of the opposition after protesting against Narendra Modi’s chariot TMC‘Victory in the assembly elections, the Chief Minister of West Bengal’ Mamata Banerjee Locked in an unequal battle as she competes with “light” rivals in her own den – Bhawanipore.
Banerjee, who described herself as a “wounded tigress” after an incident on the campaign trail in Nandigram that left her with a plaster, and her wounds after her defeat at the hands of a one-time mentor Suvendu Adhikari It was licking, perhaps roaring, returning to victory, seems to those watching the electoral battle spread in the constituency.
He is contesting from Priyanka Tibrewal in the by-election. BJP and CPI(M) Shreejib Biswas.
Tibrewal, whom state BJP president Dilip Ghosh called a “fearless soul”, is a lawyer and is one of the PILs filed against the TMC government over incidents of violence in West Bengal after the assembly elections in March-April. This year, however, has nothing to show as political achievements. She contested the assembly election from Antley and lost. Biswas is a political greenhorn.
Political analysts say that for the BJP, the battle for Bhawanipur is more about retaining its 35 per cent vote share than winning the seat. For the ever-powerful Left, it’s about proving it’s still alive if not kicking off in a state where it ruled for 34 years without a break.
For the defiant Mamata Banerjee, it is not only about avenging her defeat in Nandigram, but her greater ambition to play a key role in shaping the future of the opposition in national politics.
After initial hesitation, the Congress decided not to field a candidate against Banerjee and abstain from campaigning.
Both the Congress and the Left, which contested the assembly elections in alliance, had created a blank.
“Bhawanipur Nijer Ghorer Meykei Chai (Bhawanipur wants its daughter)” has become the battle cry for the TMC rank and file as they head up the campaign for Banerjee, 66, a resident of Bhawanipore.
Banerjee had won the seat twice, in 2011 and 2016, but shifted to Nandigram, where the agricultural land acquisition movement against the Left Front government had turned her into a major political force in the volatile state, challenging Suvendu Adhikari of the BJP. For, who is now the leader. Opposition on their home turf
He will now have to win Bhawanipur to ensure an unbroken tenure as Chief Minister.
According to constitutional provisions, Banerjee has to win a seat in the state assembly by November 5 to continue as chief minister. The constitution allows a non-member of a state legislature or parliament to remain in ministerial office without being elected for only six months.
After his defeat in Nandigram, state cabinet minister and TMC MLA Sovandeb Chattopadhyay Bhabnipur, from there vacated the seat to facilitate his return to the assembly.
“For us, victory is not an issue. Mamata Banerjee will win this seat. It is a foregone conclusion, even the opposition parties know. Our aim is to ensure victory with a record margin. People have voted to elect the chief minister. It has been decided by a record margin to avenge the conspiracy hatched in Nandigram,” senior minister and TMC general secretary Partha Chatterjee told PTI.
Top leaders like Chatterjee, Firhad Hakim and Subrata Bakshi have been deployed to manage the campaign in Kolkata’s constituency with eight municipal wards, two of which have good Muslim populations and stood behind the TMC supremo in bad times Is.
“We are glad that Didi is back in our constituency. It is a matter of pride for us that the CM is our neighbour,” said Bhabnipur resident Pradyut Roy, echoing with the slogan “Bhabanipur Nijer Ghorer Meyakei Chai” . local people.
Another voter said, “Everyone knows who will win. But we want the civic issues to be resolved at the earliest, especially during the rains.”
Chattopadhyay had won Bhawanipore for the TMC, defeating his BJP rival by over 28,000 votes.
Due to the defeat in the assembly elections and the subsequent joining of its MLAs to the TMC, the BJP found it difficult to find a candidate for the by-election.
“Most of the senior leaders were against Mamata Banerjee and she too was not willing to contest the bypoll from Bhawanipur. We have to ensure that our vote share remains intact and grows,” a senior BJP leader said on the condition of anonymity.
However, Tibrewal is confident of his victory and has decided to make the post-poll violence a major election issue.
“Mamata Banerjee is fighting this election to save the chief minister’s chair. My job will be to reach out to the people of the constituency and inform them about the atrocities, torture and violence inflicted by her party on the opposition workers after the assembly elections. I I am sure the people of Bhabnipur will vote for me and defeat them.”
Left Front candidate Shreejib Biswas said the perceived lack of development under Banerjee’s leadership would be a major issue in the by-polls.
“Our fight is against both TMC and BJP. We will highlight that there has been no development in the state in the last 10 years,” he said.
A metropolitan constituency with nearly two lakh voters, Bhabanipur is home to a large number of Gujaratis, Sikhs and Biharis living alongside Bengalis.
The constituency has been a Congress stronghold for a long time after its formation in 1952. The constituency ceased to exist after the delimitation of 1977 but was revived in 2011. The TMC has since won the seat in all the three assembly elections held there.
However, in the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP led from the assembly constituency which is a part of the Kolkata South Lok Sabha constituency, which Banerjee has won six times.
The BJP managed to take a lead in the assembly constituency in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections as non-Bengali voters scrambled for it, but failed to hold onto the Sikh and Punjabi population in the 2021 assembly elections following farmers’ agitation. Punjab.
“The Bhabnipur assembly bypoll is a battle of unequal. On one hand you have Bengal’s heaviest politician and on the other you have two political lightest. TMC is fighting to get a record margin. The BJP, which has its own home, said political analyst Biswanath Chakraborty. Said, “Anarchy is fighting to retain its vote share. Leftists are fighting to make their presence felt.”
Another political analyst Suman Bhattacharya concurred, and said it is very important that the Congress has decided not to field a candidate against Banerjee or campaign against her for the first time.
“This election is also a kind of litmus test for national opposition unity as the two key players—Congress and TMC—have decided to come together to take on the BJP,” he said.
Banerjee, who described herself as a “wounded tigress” after an incident on the campaign trail in Nandigram that left her with a plaster, and her wounds after her defeat at the hands of a one-time mentor Suvendu Adhikari It was licking, perhaps roaring, returning to victory, seems to those watching the electoral battle spread in the constituency.
He is contesting from Priyanka Tibrewal in the by-election. BJP and CPI(M) Shreejib Biswas.
Tibrewal, whom state BJP president Dilip Ghosh called a “fearless soul”, is a lawyer and is one of the PILs filed against the TMC government over incidents of violence in West Bengal after the assembly elections in March-April. This year, however, has nothing to show as political achievements. She contested the assembly election from Antley and lost. Biswas is a political greenhorn.
Political analysts say that for the BJP, the battle for Bhawanipur is more about retaining its 35 per cent vote share than winning the seat. For the ever-powerful Left, it’s about proving it’s still alive if not kicking off in a state where it ruled for 34 years without a break.
For the defiant Mamata Banerjee, it is not only about avenging her defeat in Nandigram, but her greater ambition to play a key role in shaping the future of the opposition in national politics.
After initial hesitation, the Congress decided not to field a candidate against Banerjee and abstain from campaigning.
Both the Congress and the Left, which contested the assembly elections in alliance, had created a blank.
“Bhawanipur Nijer Ghorer Meykei Chai (Bhawanipur wants its daughter)” has become the battle cry for the TMC rank and file as they head up the campaign for Banerjee, 66, a resident of Bhawanipore.
Banerjee had won the seat twice, in 2011 and 2016, but shifted to Nandigram, where the agricultural land acquisition movement against the Left Front government had turned her into a major political force in the volatile state, challenging Suvendu Adhikari of the BJP. For, who is now the leader. Opposition on their home turf
He will now have to win Bhawanipur to ensure an unbroken tenure as Chief Minister.
According to constitutional provisions, Banerjee has to win a seat in the state assembly by November 5 to continue as chief minister. The constitution allows a non-member of a state legislature or parliament to remain in ministerial office without being elected for only six months.
After his defeat in Nandigram, state cabinet minister and TMC MLA Sovandeb Chattopadhyay Bhabnipur, from there vacated the seat to facilitate his return to the assembly.
“For us, victory is not an issue. Mamata Banerjee will win this seat. It is a foregone conclusion, even the opposition parties know. Our aim is to ensure victory with a record margin. People have voted to elect the chief minister. It has been decided by a record margin to avenge the conspiracy hatched in Nandigram,” senior minister and TMC general secretary Partha Chatterjee told PTI.
Top leaders like Chatterjee, Firhad Hakim and Subrata Bakshi have been deployed to manage the campaign in Kolkata’s constituency with eight municipal wards, two of which have good Muslim populations and stood behind the TMC supremo in bad times Is.
“We are glad that Didi is back in our constituency. It is a matter of pride for us that the CM is our neighbour,” said Bhabnipur resident Pradyut Roy, echoing with the slogan “Bhabanipur Nijer Ghorer Meyakei Chai” . local people.
Another voter said, “Everyone knows who will win. But we want the civic issues to be resolved at the earliest, especially during the rains.”
Chattopadhyay had won Bhawanipore for the TMC, defeating his BJP rival by over 28,000 votes.
Due to the defeat in the assembly elections and the subsequent joining of its MLAs to the TMC, the BJP found it difficult to find a candidate for the by-election.
“Most of the senior leaders were against Mamata Banerjee and she too was not willing to contest the bypoll from Bhawanipur. We have to ensure that our vote share remains intact and grows,” a senior BJP leader said on the condition of anonymity.
However, Tibrewal is confident of his victory and has decided to make the post-poll violence a major election issue.
“Mamata Banerjee is fighting this election to save the chief minister’s chair. My job will be to reach out to the people of the constituency and inform them about the atrocities, torture and violence inflicted by her party on the opposition workers after the assembly elections. I I am sure the people of Bhabnipur will vote for me and defeat them.”
Left Front candidate Shreejib Biswas said the perceived lack of development under Banerjee’s leadership would be a major issue in the by-polls.
“Our fight is against both TMC and BJP. We will highlight that there has been no development in the state in the last 10 years,” he said.
A metropolitan constituency with nearly two lakh voters, Bhabanipur is home to a large number of Gujaratis, Sikhs and Biharis living alongside Bengalis.
The constituency has been a Congress stronghold for a long time after its formation in 1952. The constituency ceased to exist after the delimitation of 1977 but was revived in 2011. The TMC has since won the seat in all the three assembly elections held there.
However, in the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP led from the assembly constituency which is a part of the Kolkata South Lok Sabha constituency, which Banerjee has won six times.
The BJP managed to take a lead in the assembly constituency in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections as non-Bengali voters scrambled for it, but failed to hold onto the Sikh and Punjabi population in the 2021 assembly elections following farmers’ agitation. Punjab.
“The Bhabnipur assembly bypoll is a battle of unequal. On one hand you have Bengal’s heaviest politician and on the other you have two political lightest. TMC is fighting to get a record margin. The BJP, which has its own home, said political analyst Biswanath Chakraborty. Said, “Anarchy is fighting to retain its vote share. Leftists are fighting to make their presence felt.”
Another political analyst Suman Bhattacharya concurred, and said it is very important that the Congress has decided not to field a candidate against Banerjee or campaign against her for the first time.
“This election is also a kind of litmus test for national opposition unity as the two key players—Congress and TMC—have decided to come together to take on the BJP,” he said.
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