BJP predicts record win in Nandigram bypolls
Suvendu Adhikari on Tuesday claimed that the BJP would win the Nandigram by-elections by a record margin while fielding the mother of his slain personal assistant, Chandranath Rath, from the seat. Chandranath was murdered on May 6 in the political violence that followed the 2026 West Bengal Assembly election.
Locals at Nandigram said Hasirani Rath’s candidature could swing the vote entirely in the BJP’s favour as it would give her campaign an emotive edge over the other parties, particularly against the Left, which had come up as the main Opposition after the Trinamool Congress broke into three factions. Hasirani has previous experience of contesting elections, twice as a panchayat member and once as a panchayat samiti member.
“TMC is a gone case and may lose its deposit. The contest will be between the BJP and the CPI(M) and one is sure BJP will win by a good margin because Muslim vote will be divided and the mother of Chandranath Rath who was a local lad will get the sympathy vote, particularly of the women,” said Sasadhar Giri, a local school teacher from Math Chandipur, adding that the grant of `3,000 in Annapurna Bhandar scheme would also help the BJP.
“I know how to conduct polls. Remain in no doubt that the BJP candidate will win by such a record margin in Nandigram that one has not seen in the past,” Adhikari, who earlier vacated the seat, said.
He had won from both Nandigram and Bhawanipore in South Kolkata, where he had defeated Mamata Banerjee. Adhikari preferred to retain the Bhawanipore seat after becoming the CM.
Apart from Nandigram, by-elections will also be held for the Rejinagar seat in Muslim-dominated Murshidabad district. Rejinagar fell vacant after sitting MLA Humayun Kabir vacated the seat. Kabir too had won both from Rejinagar and Bharatpur and preferred to leave the former seat, nominating his son Ghulam Nabi Azad. The BJP fielded Shakharav Sarkar, the district party president of Murshidabad from Rejinagar, while the TMC fielded Rabiul Islam, a party veteran.
Vowing to fulfil all the promises he had made in the past, Adhikari asked the Muslim community to decide as to which party they would like to favour. “It is for the Muslims to decide which party they want to support ... October 6 (election date) will be your test whether you will want to be with the Government and work with the CM in the development of the State or choose something else,” he said.
Iterating that Chandranath was murdered because he had bravely sided with him, Adhikari said that justice would be done to one and all. Rath
“The BJP workers who had suffered endless atrocities too would get justice,” he said, adding the Government would look into the false cases that had been slapped on many party men during the TMC regime.
Adhikari’s claim comes on a day when the BJP national president Nitin Navin arrived in Bengal to supervise the organisational preparedness of the party ahead of the by-elections.
