TMC MLA Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay thanks Mamata for Bhowanipore ticket; vows to win it

Thanking Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee for fielding him from her home turf Bhawanipore, Trinamool MLA Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay on Friday, assured her that he will get his best efforts as he had been giving in Rashbehari since 1998. Chattopadhyay, who is Bengal's Minister for Power, has held the Rashbehari constituency since 1998 - when Trinamool split from Congress. Bengal is set to go to polls in 8 phases - March 27, April 1, April 6, April 10, April 17, April 22, April 26 and April 29 with results to be announced on May 2.

Mamata Banerjee to contest only from Nandigram; TMC announces West Bengal candidate list

Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay thanks Mamata

SCOOP: BJP to field all big leaders against TMC in Bengal; Suvendu from high-stake seat

Mamata: 'I will contest from Nandigram'

Taking up BJP's challenge, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee announced that she will contest only from the Nandigram seat in East Midnapore district, and not from Bhowanipore. While she also hinted that she may contest from Tollygunj, TMC announced the candidate list for the 291 seats it will contest on. The 291-candidate list includes 50 women, 42 Muslim candidates. The TMC will not contest for 3 seats of north Bengal.

In response, Union Minister Babul Supriyo remarked, "We will defeat Mamata Banerjee from Nandigram. If Suvendu Adhikari himself contests against from here, he will win by over 50,000 votes. Even if someone else gets the ticket, that candidate will also secure a victory of more than 50,000 votes. Mamata Banerjee has deserted the Bhawanipore seat which made her CM multiple times as she knew that she was going to lose."

Suvendu Adhikari hints at more TMC exits; asks Mamata 'Will you contest from everywhere?'

Mamata challenges Adhikari

Intensifying the battle for Bengal, Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee on 18 January, announced that she will contest from Nandigram in the upcoming state polls. She suggested that she may contest from both Bhawanipore and Nandigram, setting up a direct faceoff with her ex-confidante Suvendu Adhikari. . The ex-Nandigram MLA was the mastermind of the 2007 Nandigram agitation - responded, "I will leave politics if I fail to defeat her by half a lakh votes". While Adhikari has publically expressed his wish, BJP is yet to confirm it.

The saffron party is gearing for a tough battle in Bengal - aiming to attain more than 200 seats, while not fielding a CM face yet. The BJP had already politically divided Bengal into five parts - North Bengal, Rath Bang (South Western District), Nabadwip, Medinipur and Kolkata, handpicking Shivprakash, Sunil Deodhar, Dushyant Gautam, Bhikubhai Dalsania, Ravindra Raju,  Vinod Sonkar, Harish Dwivedi to ta work on booth levels in these regions. With over 65,000 booth committees and 14,000 Shakti Kendra constituted, the BJP has appointed five veterans as central observers - with the final call to be taken by Amit Shah. With BJP chief JP Nadda, Amit Shah, PM Modi holding regular public meetings, roadshows in Bengal, the saffron party has also seen an inrush of disgruntled TMC leaders like - Suvendu Adhikari and his two brothers, Rajib Banerjee, Jitendra Tiwari, Vaishali Dalmiya and many others.

BJP elated post Mamata Banerjee's switch to Nandigram, claims 'CM has conceded defeat'