The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) announced its candidates for the upcoming by-elections of the Nandigram Assembly constituency in East Midnapore district and Rejinagar Assembly constituency in Murshidabad district of West Bengal.
The BJP has fielded Hasirani Rath from Nandigram. She is the mother of late Chandranath Rath, the slain personal assistant of West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari. Chandranath Rath was shot dead in Madhyamgram in North 24 Parganas district on the evening of May 6 earlier this year.
The killing took place two days after the results of the West Bengal Assembly elections were announced, with the BJP recording a landslide victory.
For the Rejinagar bypoll, the BJP has nominated Sakharav Sarkar.
According to party insiders, Hasirani Rath will offer puja at the Janakinath temple in the Nandigram Assembly constituency before filing her nomination. BJP workers and supporters have already begun gathering to participate in the nomination event, news agency IANS reported.
After the puja, Rath is expected to lead a procession of around 20,000 party workers and supporters to the District Magistrate’s office in Haldia, where she will file her nomination. The Chief Minister will also be present during the filing of the nomination.
The last date for filing nominations for the Nandigram and Rejinagar bypolls is September 16. Polling will be held on October 6, while the results will be declared on October 9.
In the West Bengal Assembly elections held earlier this year, Suvendu Adhikari was elected from both Nandigram and Bhabanipur Assembly constituencies in South Kolkata.
In Bhabanipur, Adhikari defeated his predecessor and former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee by a margin of more than 15,000 votes. He retained the Bhabanipur seat, necessitating a bypoll in Nandigram.
In Murshidabad, former Trinamool Congress legislator Humayun Kabir contested and won from both Naoda and Rejinagar Assembly constituencies as an Aam Janata Unnayan Party (AJUP) candidate. While Kabir retained Naoda, he has fielded his son, Gholam Nabi Azad, as the AJUP candidate for the Rejinagar bypoll.
Nandigram has been considered a virtual BJP stronghold since 2021, largely because of Suvendu Adhikari’s presence there. Political observers, therefore, do not expect the bye-election to pose a major challenge to the saffron camp.
Rejinagar, however, is expected to be a tougher contest for the BJP because of the constituency’s demography. Political observers also believe the Trinamool Congress, which is now divided into three factions, may not have a clear advantage in the seat.
“On the other hand, the Trinamool Congress, which is now divided into three factions, also does not seem to have much prospects from Rejinagar this time. Rather, the CPI(M) and Congress can view the opportunity for increasing their tally in the West Bengal Assembly constituency by one seat. The Rejinagar bypolls might also give some indication about where the minority votes in the state might shift to in the coming days,” said a city-based political observer.
(with IANS inputs)
