Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is relying on her trusted aides to campaign in her Bhabanipur constituency in south Kolkata, as she is expected to be mostly out of the country campaigning for the Trinamool Congress (TMC) across West Bengal. The BJP has nominated Suvendu Adhikari, the leader of the opposition in the outgoing Parliament, against Banerjee in Bhabanipur, which goes to the polls on April 29.
Banerjee was scheduled to launch the TMC campaign from North Bengal on Tuesday. It was expected to tour Alipurduar, Jalpaiguri, Cooch Behar, Bankura, Purulia, Burdwan and West Midnapore districts over the next seven days.
“Banerjee will be away from Kolkata most of the time over the next month as she will lead the party’s campaign across the state alongside… [TMC parliament member] Abhishek Banerjee. “Some veteran party leaders close to Banerjee will lead the campaign in Bhabanipur in her absence,” a TMC leader said.
She only reminds people that she is their daughter, said Cabinet Minister Firhad Hakim, one of Banerjee’s trusted aides who campaigned for her in Bhabanipur’s Sheetla. “People are with Mamatadi. We have already said that this time we will win from Bhabanipur with a margin of more than 60,000 votes. People are saying that we do not need to come and campaign like they did with Didi.” [Banerjee]. “We take to the streets just to exchange greetings with people,” Al-Hakim said on Monday.
State Minister Arup Biswas, Rajya Sabha member Subrata Bakshi, eight ward councillors, TMC campaign stars, will also campaign in Bhabanipur. Bakshi has been associated with Banerjee since 1983.
Bhabanipur has been a TMC stronghold, and Banerjee has been winning the seat since 2011. In 2021, Banerjee won the seat in a by-election by a record margin of 58,832 votes after losing to Adhikari from Nandigram by 1,956 votes. Bhabanipur comes under the South Kolkata Lok Sabha seat.
TMC’s Mala Roy, who won the South Kolkata seat in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, has a lead of 8,207 votes in Bhabanipur.
Adhikari said he would win from Bhabanipur by a margin of 25,000 votes. “Everyone knows how the by-elections were held in 2021. After that, the Lok Sabha polls were held. The margin of 58,000 votes no longer exists.”
At least 46,812 voters were evacuated in Bhabanipur, people familiar with the matter said. As many as 44,470 names have been dropped from the draft electoral list. Another 2,342 names were removed after the hearings from the final list. At least 14,154 voter claims remain pending.
Adhikari launched his election campaign in Bhabanipur on March 19, four days after the election dates were announced. Banerjee held a closed-door meeting with party leaders and workers in Bhabanipur on March 22.
Sudeep Pal, a tea stall owner in Sheetla, said they want Banerjee to win again. “She has been with us for about a year. What is the BJP’s activity here? The TMC leaders, who were either brought down or betrayed the party, are now with the BJP. She will win easily.”
Raktima Das, a housewife, said that when it came to choosing between Banerjee and Adhikari, they would always choose Didi.
