BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari on Friday taunted Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee — who will be contesting against him from the Nandigram seat in the forthcoming assembly elections — saying on May 2, she will lose and will have to leave. Earlier today, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) released the complete list of its 291 candidates for the upcoming elections, which is being projected as one of the high stakes polls.
Releasing the list, Mamata announced that she will contest from Nandigram against Suvendu Adhikari, who used to be one of her top aides but left the party and joined BJP. Nandigram is Adhikari's stronghold.
Speaking after TMC released the list, Suvendu said, "Honourable CM will contest from Nandigram as per the candidate list, very good, it's welcomed. People of Nandigram raise your voice, we want the son of Midnapore, not outsiders. We will see you on the battlefield. On 2nd May, you will lose and leave."
ALSO READ | Bengal Polls 2021: TMC releases list of 291 candidates, Mamata to contest from Nandigram
Party supremo Mamata Banerjee made her intention clear today that she will only contest from Nandigram in East Midnapore district, considered a stronghold of newly-inducted BJP leader and once close aid to the Chief Minister, Suvendu Adhikari. The party has left three seats for a Gorkha party in Darjeeling.
"I will only contest from Nandigram," Banerjee's message was unambiguous and loud, hinting that the popular leader never shies away from a challenge and loves a head-on confrontation.
When Banerjee took everyone by surprise by declaring her intent to contest from Nandigram during a rally there two months ago, a battery of BJP leaders had ridiculed the proposed move.
Some said she would contest from both her traditional constituency of Bhowanipore and Nandigram, just in case she loses the conflict-scarred East Midnapore seat.
ALSO READ | West Bengal assembly elections 2021 to be held in 8 phases. Full schedule inside