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| West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) contested against the former TMC and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader, Suvendu Adhikari, from Nandigram. |
Nandigram, a town of East Medinipur that has changed the political scenario of Bengal after the 2007 massacre. The incident changed the political colour of the town from red to green and resulted at the end of the 34 years of continuous communist government rule of West Bengal. Later, the Singur fiasco in 2008, made the situation worse for the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and made the winning seat number go down from 176 seats in 2006 to 40 seats in 2011.
2016 West Bengal Legislative Assembly Seats:
In the 2016 West Bengal Legislative Elections, All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) won by 199 seats. The party won with a very high margin.
Similarly, in Nandigram, Suvendu Adhikari won the seat in 2016, for TMC, with a vote count of 67.20 per cent. Previously, it was Firoja Bibi who held the seat in Nandigram since 2019, after defeating the CPI(M) party.
Vital Statistics of the State
Bengal politics has witnessed 34 years of Left Front rule. But before that, Congress has ruled the state from 1972 to 1977 for 5 years. It was in 2011 when TMC came into power. BJP didn’t have much power in Bengal till the Modi government came in power.
It was in the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections when Bengal witnessed a strong opposition from the BJP party. There was a difference of four seats between the two parties. TMC won the 2019 Lok Sabha Election in West Bengal with a total of 22 seats. Since then, TMC started facing strong opposition from the saffron party.
Hence, people are expecting a strong battle between BJP and TMC in the 2021 West Bengal Legislative Elections.
Latest Issue
The most coveted electoral battle in Bengal was contested at Nandigram seat. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had moved from her traditional Bhawanipur seat to Nandigram where she was being challenged by her former close aide Suvendu Adhikari, a local and BJP candidate from the seat.
It was from Nandigram that Suvendu Adhikari had teamed up with Mamata Banerjee in 2007 giving birth to what became the Nandigram movement. In four years, Mamata Banerjee became a formidable force and routed the 34-year-rule of the Left Front in Bengal.
Nandigram, the seat Bengal’s Chief Minister chose to fight on, was once the epicentre of a farmers' movement that brought the TMC party to power in Bengal in 2011. However, Suvendu was the mastermind behind the party's base development in Nandigram.
The Nandigram battle was brought to a more personal level. It had been no more about the two political parties, but between Mamata Banerjee and her one-time protégé, Suvendu Adhikari.
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| West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee campaigning in Nandigram, on 9 March 2021. (Image Via PTI) |
Many TMC leaders changed their party to BJP, few months before the elections. But among all of them, Suvendu Adhikari was the first and one of the top TMC leaders to do so. He was one of the backbones of the party and the man behind the 2007 Nandigram protest, after Mamata Banerjee. However, she had compared Suvendu Adhikari to ‘Mir Jafar’ (initially Alivardi Khan’s loyalist, who betrayed for Britishers, often referred to as a symbol of intimate betrayal).
More than the entire West Bengal, all eyes were on Nandigram as it was a hot seat of the 2021 Bengal Elections. Adhikari had often accused the Chief Minister of forgetting the people who helped her gain power in the state. Hence, it was one heck of a challenge to quash all his claims.
The Results
The battle was a neck-to-neck competition. Suvendu Adhikari has already won the Nandigram seat before in 2016, but for TMC. This time he was contesting for BJP. Whereas, the face of TMC, Mamata Banerjee, who has been in power for the past 10 years, holds a lot of power in the state.
As the exit polls suggest, ABP Ananda-C Voter says TMC will win 152-164 seats, BJP will get 109-121 and the Morcha will be 14-25.
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| Suvendu Adhikari in a political rally for BJP. (Image via PTI) |
Nandigram was one of the main reasons which brought TMC to power in 2011. From the Left’s rule to TMC, now the area is facing major opposition from BJP.
The 2021 West Bengal Legislative Elections was overall a battleground where the BJP force was trying its best to enter the state. It was foretold that if BJP wins the Bengal election along with Nandigram, it will be tough for TMC to regain power as Mamata Banerjee is the biggest strength and opposition of the party. However, in case TMC wins the election, but Banerjee loses the Nandigram seat, she can easily win a by-election within 6 months and become the Chief Minister.
Finally, on May 2, 2021, the results were out, TMC swept over the Bengal elections and came back for the third term with a huge mandate of 211 seats out of 294. But Nandigram had a different story to tell. BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari beat West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee by 1,956 votes. Thereafter, TMC demanded a recount of votes in Nandigram constituency. Presently, Mamata Banerjee decided to contest from Bhawanipur Assembly seat in by-election.
Author:
Pratiti Dhang
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