Mamata Banerjee files nomination from Nandigram, exudes confidence of winning the seat

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday filed her nomination from Nandigram for the upcoming assembly elections, and said that it was the support of people for her when the seat fell vacant, that convinced her to contest from there. Nandigram is set to vote on April 1, in the second phase.

Accompanied by party general secretary Subrata Bakshi, Banerjee filed her papers at the Haldia sub-divisional office after taking part in a two-km roadshow. She had addressed a party meeting on Tuesday and had visited four temples and a dargah.

Earlier in the day, she held a roadshow with posters with the Trinamool Congress’s new slogan “Bangla Nijer Mein kei Chai” (Bengal wants its own daughter). “Nandigram is not a new place for me. When Nandigram was facing violence, many brave leaders who are talking now, did not come out of their houses. But I was always there,” she said, taking a swipe at her political opponent Suvendu Adhikari.


The chief minister said she always dreamt of contesting from Singur or Nandigram, the two places that saw struggles in the fight against forcible land acquisition.

The Nandigram contest is crucial as Banerjee is pitted against Suvendu Adhikari who has positioned himself as a son of the soil and claimed that he will win the seat by over 50,000 votes. Adhikari also held a rally in Nandigram and said he will file his nomination on March 12 where he will be accompanied by minister Smriti Irani and star campaigner Mithun Chakraborty.

Mamata will be staying in Nandigram on Wednesday, and will visit various places in her constituency and hold meetings. She will leave Nandigram on Thursday morning and release the party manifesto at 2 pm at her Kalighat residence, officials said.