Mamata Banerjee to begin rallying for Bhabanipur bypolls on Sep 8; campaigners list out

Gearing up for the Bhabanipur by-polls, CM Mamata Banerjee will begin her campaign from 8 September, sources reported on Tuesday. The Trinamool has released its list of star campaigners on Monday led by Mamata Banerjee, Abhishek Banerjee, Partha Chatterjee, Sougata Roy, Firhad Hakim etc. Several Bengal ministers have stepped out to paint walls in Bhabanipur as part of the 3-time CM's campaign.  Bypolls will be held in Bhabanipur on September 30 and results will be declared by 3 October - cementing Mamata's third stint as West Bengal CM.

Mamata to begin campaign on 8 September

ECI to hold by-polls in Bhabanipur

On Saturday, the Election Commission of India (EC) announced that it will hold by-polls only at Bhabanipur on 30 September, upon the special request of the state government. Moreover, it will also hold polls in Bengal's Samserganj and Jangipur and Odisha's Pipli where polls were deferred due to death of contesting candidates in May. Bhabanipur - which is Mamata Banerjee's constituency - is currently vacant after MLA Sovandeb Chatterjee resigned after winning the seat.

Citing the imminent third COVID wave, EC has decided to not hold by-elections in 31 Assembly constituencies and 3 parliamentary constituencies. Campaigning in the above-mentioned four constituencies will be allowed from 20 September, while the Model Code of Conduct has been imposed immediately. Banerjee had lost her poll battle from Nandigram, defeated by BJP's Suvendu Adhikari.

Miffed with the announcement, West Bengal BJP spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya said, "With this announcement, the EC has put a question mark on its reputation. BJP is unhappy with this announcement. Why are by-polls announced only in Bhabanipur? Is there no COVID-19 in Bhabanipur?". Preparing for the poll battle, BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari mocked Mamata saying, "What if BJP fields me again? Then what will happen?". In 2-3 days, the BJP candidates of the West Bengal by-elections will be announced, while Congress is mulling to not field a candidate against Mamata in the upcoming Bhabanipur by-polls.

The Nandigram battle

In a bid to protect her home-turf, Mamata Banerjee had battled BJP's Suvendu Adhikari in the place which had catapulted Mamata Banerjee into the CM post in 2011. While Nandigram is a Trinamool bastion, it is the Adhikari family - Sisir, Suvendu, Dibyendu and Soumendu which has massive sway in the district - leading to Suvendu's victory over Mamata by a margin of 1737 votes. Though Mamata accepted her defeat, she said that she has challenged the electoral verdict in Calcutta High court. The nail-biting clincher saw Suvendu Adhikari take the lead by 4000 seats over Mamata Banerjee, but later the margin reduced to mere 6 votes, before Mamata took the lead. Banerjee took oath as CM for the third time after TMC won  213 seats whereas BJP could win in only 77 constituencies.