Mamata Banerjee Backs Congress In Nandigram Bypoll After Her Candidate Withdraws Nomination

Former West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday extended her faction's support to the Congress candidate Milan Pradhan for the Nandigram bypoll after her candidate, Sanchita Pradhan De, withdrew the nomination.

Banerjee said no replacement candidate would be nominated and presented the move as an effort to consolidate Opposition votes against the BJP.

“We are ready to fight it out. I want the BJP to go from India. Our full solidarity is with the INDIA alliance,” Mamata Banerjee said in a press conference.

This is a rare move as the Trinamool Congress and the Congress have fought the recent Assembly election separately, despite being constituents of the INDIA alliance at the national level.

Banerjee said Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi had called her on Thursday. She also referred to a message of support posted by AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal.

Candidate Withdraws After Meeting Adhikari

Banerjee’s announcement came hours after Sanchita Pradhan De pulled out of the contest, less than a month before polling.

De’s withdrawal followed a meeting with Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari at the state secretariat in Nabanna.

The meeting which was described as a courtesy call attracted political attention because Adhikari is a former Nandigram MLA and one of Banerjee’s main rivals, India Today reported.

EC Freezes TMC Name and Symbol

The development came on the same day that the Election Commission allotted temporary names and symbols to the two rival Trinamool factions.

The poll panel had barred both groups from using the All India Trinamool Congress name and its traditional “Jora Ghash Phul”, or flowers and grass, symbol while it considers competing claims over the party’s identity and organisational control.

Banerjee’s faction will contest the coming bypolls under the name “Mamata All India Trinamool Congress” and has been allotted a football player as its election symbol. The rival group has been recognised temporarily as the “Democratic Trinamool Congress” and given an envelope symbol.

'Party Driven By Individual Cult'

West Bengal Leader of the Opposition Ritabrata Banerjee reacting on the name of the Mamata Banerjee's faction said, "This highlights the nature of a party driven by an individual cult. In politics, concepts like 'private limited companies' or 'dynastic heirs' hold no meaning; there is no such thing as ownership in the political system."

Speaking about the Arup Roy faction, he said tha the decision was made collectively, adding that the group had submitted Nationalist Trinamool Congress, West Bengal Trinamool Congress and Democratic Trinamool Congress as its three choices.

According to Ritabrata, the Election Commission explained why the first two options could not be accepted and consequently allotted the third. He said the faction received its first preference for the election symbol.