Breakaway TMC offers Nandigram to Mamata
In what is seen as a ‘clever and subtle’ release of its cards — pushing Mamata Banerjee further to the brink — the breakaway faction of the Trinamool Congress led by Opposition Leader Ritabrata Banerjee on Wednesday said that his faction would not field any candidate in Nandigram Assembly by-elections should the former Chief Minister contest the polls from the high-profile seat.
Nandigram seat fell vacant after it was vacated by Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, who happens to be the son of the soil. In the April-May State elections, Adhikari won both from Nandigram and Bhawanipore, defeating Mamata Banerjee at her home turf in Kolkata. Adhikari had already announced earlier that his party would win the seat by a record margin in the by-elections. “I will personally campaign here and see that the seat is won by a record margin,” he said, apparently making it difficult for anyone — even Mamata Banerjee to win it.
“We have no problem if Mamata Banerjee fights from Nandigram... We have been her soldiers, and we still have respect for her... We will leave the seat if she contests from Nandigram,” former minister and breakaway TMC MLA Madan Mitra said. There was no immediate comment on the issue from the Mamata Banerjee faction which, however, remained concerned with the appropriation of the party symbol. “The party symbol is the main issue now, and they are in a tight spot ... We are sure to get it back,” Kunal Ghosh, a Mamata loyalist, earlier said.
Another senior TMC leader and a former Minister said about Wednesday’s development that “The card has been played very cleverly by the Ritabrata faction — which is presently under the full control of the BJP Government — so as to further humiliate and decimate Mamata Banerjee because it will be next to impossible for her to defeat BJP in Nandigram,” which is Adhikari’s home turf. Even in the 2021 Assembly elections, when TMC roared back to power with a thumping majority, Adhikari had defeated Banerjee by a margin of 1900 votes.
The elections are to be held on October 6, and the last date for filing nominations is September 16.
The TMC broke into three parts, with 20 MPs directly breaking away from the party to join a little-known outfit Nationalist Citizens Party of India. About 60 out of 80 MLAs created a parallel group — led by present Opposition Leader Ritabrata Bhattacharjee — within the party, going against the decision of former Chief Minister and party supremo Mamata Banerjee, who presently has only about 20 MLAs with her.
When contacted, sources in both factions of the TMC said that they would contest the elections anyway, with the difference that the Ritabrata faction said that they would pull out of the fray if Mamata Banerjee chose to contest from Nandigram. “We will contest and win both the seats... And if Mamata Banerjee contests from Nandigram, the fight will be easier,” Riju Dutta, one of the breakaway leaders, said.
By-elections would be held for two seats of Nandigram and Rejinagar in Murshidabad district, where more than 70 per cent of the voters were Muslims. The seats were vacated by Aam Janata Unayan Party MLA Humayun Kabir, who formed this outfit after leaving the TMC early this year. He won from two seats and vacated Rejinagar in favour of his son, Ghulam Nabi Azad.
