West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday led a massive roadshow in south Kolkata’s Bhabanipur as the Trinamool Congress (TMC) concluded its campaign for the April 29 polls.
Polling for 152 seats was held on April 23, while the remaining 142 seats, including Bhabanipur, will go to the polls on April 29, the second phase of the state assembly elections. The campaign ended at six o’clock on Monday evening.
Banerjee, who is seeking a fourth consecutive term, conducted three successive roadshows covering nearly 9 km from Jadavpur to Bhabanipur. Accompanied by party leaders, she raced against time to complete stretching exercises, at one point riding on the back seat of a two-wheeled bicycle. Thousands lined the streets waving TMC flags and chanting “joi bangla” and “jotoi kuru hamla apar jitbi bangla”, while Banerjee greeted his supporters with folded hands. The rally passed through Jadavpur, Rashbehari and Ballygunge before culminating in Bhabanipur, where RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav joined it at the last leg.
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Raising concerns over the electoral list, Banerjee had earlier said: “There were 260,000 voters in Bhabanipur. Initially about 44,000 names were dropped. About 2,000 more names were dropped in the final list, and 14,000 are under adjudication. Where are the voters? But I will win from Bhabanipur, even if there is one vote.”
Bhabanipur is gearing up for a high-stakes contest with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that includes Suvendu Adhikari, who defeated Banerjee in Nandigram in 2021 after switching sides from TMC.
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Adhikari also held a roadshow in Bhabanipur on Monday. Unlike Banerjee’s multi-constituency rally, Adhikari’s campaign remained focused within Bhabanipur, covering about 2 km. Supporters raised slogans of “Jai Shri Ram” while saffron flags lined the road. Confident of victory, Adhikari said: “Mamata Banerjee will lose from Bhabanipur this time. I defeated her in 2021. I will defeat her again.”
Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who campaigned for the election earlier this month, stressed the importance of the seat. “There is only one shortcut – win in Bhabanipur and win in Bengal. Bhabanipur’s ‘Parivartan’ will pave the way for change in the state,” he said.
A traditional TMC stronghold since 2011, he represented Bhabanipur Banerjee in 2011 and 2016. She later won the 2021 bypoll from the seat by more than 58,000 votes.
However, the Special Intensive Review (SIR) led to a significant drop in the number of voters, adding a new dimension to the race.
