West Bengal Assembly elections: Mamata Banerjee faces off against Suvendu Adhikari again; second round of political contest takes place in Babanipur

New Delhi: All set for second round Mamata Banerjee Contesting the West Bengal elections with Suvendu Adhikari. West Bengal’s chief minister and the opposition leader in the state assembly are preparing to face off again in next month’s assembly elections, this time in the Babanipur seat. In 2021, Suvendu Adhikari of the BJP won the first round by 1,956 votes defeating Mamata of Nandigram. Mamata’s failure overshadows the overall impressive shine Trinamool Congress defeated the BJP in the assembly elections five years ago. The TMC won 215 seats with a vote share of 48%, while the BJP polled 77 seats with a vote share of 38%.Mamata and Suvendu, who were once close aides of the Trinamool chief, parted ways in 2020. Accusing Mamata of corruption and electoral fraud, Suvendu left the TMC and joined the BJP. They have been bitter enemies ever since.

Mamata today announced the list of 291 TMC candidates, gearing up for a tough electoral battle with the BJP in the state. The West Bengal chief minister has expressed confidence that her party will once again gain a comfortable majority. “We will win over 226 seats in the 2026 assembly elections. The vote share of the BJP will go down in this election. Their anti-people policies will get a befitting reply,” Mamata said while announcing the party’s candidate list.The BJP, on the other hand, is confident of winning West Bengal this time and is confident that Suvendu will repeat the feat of 2021 and defeat Mamata again. West Bengal BJP president and MP Samik Bhattacharya said: “Suvendu Adhikari will defeat Nandigram and Bhabanipur by a huge margin. This is not just a matter of the BJP, it reflects the sentiment of the people.”But while Suvendu will try to keep Mamata on tenterhooks in Babanipur, he himself may face a tough situation in Nandigram, where the TMC has fielded a former BJP panchayat chief.Pabitra Kar, who is close to Suvendu Adhikari, rejoined the ruling TMC and contested against the BJP leader in Nandigram just hours before the party announced its candidate.The TMC said in a social media post that Kher was “unhappy with the anti-people stance of the BJP”. Ka, who quit the TMC to join the BJP in November 2020, was instrumental in consolidating the saffron party’s organizational structure in Boyal-1 district and is believed to have been instrumental in ensuring the BJP’s leading position in the district five years ago.In the 2021 assembly elections, Suvendu Adhikari narrowly won in Nandigram by polling 1,10,764 votes, while Mamata polled 1,08,808 votes.This time, however, it will be interesting to see who — Mamata or Suvendu — benefits from the breakdown in the alliance between the Congress and the Left.Mamata targets electoral commission, questions timing of administrative reshuffleMamata launched a blistering attack on the Election Commission, claiming that senior administrative officials and policemen were transferred ahead of the assembly elections at the behest of the BJP.Addressing reporters while announcing the list of Trinamool Congress candidates for the 2026 assembly elections, Banerjee wondered “Why were senior officials transferred before Eid? Is there any plan to trigger unrest ahead of the elections?”The chief minister claimed that the list of transferred officials was prepared by the BJP office and the decision was taken only by the Election Commission.She further claimed that some officials from outside West Bengal were brought in to assist the BJP in the electoral process. The TMC supremo accused the poll panel of acting under political pressure and said the Election Commission “played a good game on behalf of the BJP”.“They should campaign directly for the PPP,” she said.Banerjee also claimed that the transfers were aimed at facilitating the flow of funds and arms to the BJP ahead of the polls.