Suvendu In Didi's Lair: BJP Fields Bengal LoP From TMC-Stronghold Bhawanipore

The plot thickens in West Bengal, a day after poll dates were announced by the Election Commission. On Monday, BJP released its initial list of candidates of 144 candidates for the two-phase elections scheduled for April 23 and 29 in the state, with major names on the card.

The headline however, is BJP's decision to field Suvendu Adhikari, the leader of opposition in the West Bengal, from Bhawanipore, CM Mamata Banerjee's bastion. Banerjee has contested the polls from the constituency thrice since 2011, and has also represented the Kolkata Daskhin Lok Sabha constituency comprising of the Bhawanipore assembly seat, since 1991.

BJP's call to field Adhikari from Bhawanipore, comes after a much-discussed and controversial contest last time around in 2021, when Mamata Banerjee decided to face off against fresh friend-turned-foe Suvendu Adhikari in Nandigram, the Adhikari family's home turf and also a significant place for Banerjee. Following an electoral tug-of-war on counting day, Adhikari had emerged victorious by 1956 votes.

Owing to numerous events on the day, the result courted much controversy and conjecture. Banerjee later won from her much-familiar Bhawanipore in the bypoll, which allowed her to continue as Chief Minister after Trinamool's victory. Adhikari has also been fielded from his familiar ground of Nandigram, in the Purba Medinipur district.

Bhawanipore, Kolkata's political cynosure synonymous with the Trinamool and its electoral muscle over the years, has seen Mamata Banerjee emerge from these very streets and rise to the CM's chair. The constituency has been a talking point recently during SIR exercise in the state where the final voter list revealed almost 47,000 deletions from the seat. Numerous questions were raised as the figure stands close to the vote margin of Mamata Banerjee's victory in the 2021 bypoll, a point repeatedly harped on by TMC leaders in the state.

On numerous occasions, Adhikari was quoted saying that besides contesting from Nandigram he would confidently take on Mamata Banerjee in the Bhawanipore constituency and defeat her by a huge margin if the party asked him to. All eyes are once again on the centre-stage redux as Trinamool's candidates lists are awaited in the days to come.