In the charged political atmosphere, a victory would put a halo around Suvendu, who is keen to showcase his political prowess to the BJP bosses.
Mamata Banerjee is a known street-fighter and decided to fight it out with her former protégé Suvendu Adhikari contesting the crucial Nandigram assembly seat on a BJP ticket.
However, for many pollsters, the firebrand Mamata may have fallen into a trap laid by the BJP in her eagerness to be seen as a Bengal Tigress when she gambled big time by accepting Suvendu’s challenge to contest only from Nandigram, making it the most-watched contest of the 2021 assembly elections.
Besides being a high-profile electoral fight, involving a sitting chief minister and her former cabinet colleague, the Nandigram election has also become a symbol of the bitter political rivalry between the ruling Trinamool Congress and the BJP in West Bengal.
In a way, the decision to contest the Nandigram seat showcases the tough side of Mamata, who is very angry with Suvendu for ditching her and wants to teach him a lesson.
Mamata’s decision to drop her traditional seat Bhowanipur and challenge Suvendu on his home turf Nandigram also showcases the ferociousness with which the TMC founder is approaching this fight.
Understandably, the stakes are high for both Mamata and Suvendu but for different reasons.
If Mamata wins, it will be sweet revenge for the TMC supremo, a vindication of her strong opposition to the BJP and a clear hint to the TMC deserters.
However, if Mamata loses, the result would be a serious setback for her personally besides being a setback for the party that has been in power since 2011.
Over the past decade, Mamata aggressive politics made people associate her name with West Bengal where the 2021 assembly poll is still being fought in her name and against her.
A loss for any other party candidate in Nandigram would not have made much difference to the political future of Mamata or even the TMC but the two-term chief minister decided to bite the bullet and be seen on a stronger wicket.
In the charged political atmosphere, a victory would put a halo around Suvendu, who is keen to showcase his political prowess to the BJP bosses.
A win would make Suvendu be remembered as a giant slayer and his graph will certainly soar in his new party for defeating a leader like Mamata Banerjee. The same benefit would not have been available to Adhikari had he been pitted against any other TMC leader.
At the same time, losing the election would mean a loss of face for Suvendu who made the big switch in the presence of union home minister Amit Shah and declared that he would ensure the victory of the saffron party in the eastern state.
The poll on April 1 would also test Suvendu’s claim of being a son-of-the-soil and the BJP’s projection of Mamata as an outsider in Nandigram while for the chief minister the contest would verify if Suvendu just got the benefit of being Mamata’s nominee there.
Mamata is aware of the tough fight and is, therefore, leaving no stone unturned to wrest Nandigram from her former aide.
Though Nandigram has attracted nationwide attention in 2021, the place had made headlines over a decade ago when it was marked by powerful protests against the then Left Front government for forcibly taking away the land of peasants to set up a chemical hub.
Interestingly, Mamata and Suvendu were the two key characters involved with the Nandigram protests but the context was entirely different.
Banerjee launched the protests in 2007 when 14 villagers had been killed in police firing. Suvendu played a key role in organizing the massive protests against the then Left Front government which catapulted Mamata to the forefront of West Bengal politics and marked the beginning of the end of chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya.
Suvendu’s contribution in Nandigram protests brought him close to Mamata, who came to power in 2011 and rewarded him with a senior position in her cabinet.
The two are now sworn rivals.
Adhikari’s claims to victory come from the fact that his family has clout in the East Medinipur district which contains the Nandigram seat. Besides, he is a sitting lawmaker from Nandigram and got 67 per cent of votes in the 2016 elections.
Mamata’s confidence to term the contest a breeze stems from the fact that there are around 12 per cent Muslim voters in Nandigram and they are expected to vote en bloc for the TMC supremo given the newly set up Indian Secular Front belonging to hardline cleric Abbas Siddiqui has not fielded a candidate there and the Left Front has given the ticket to a lightweight candidate.
Suvendu is aware of this and therefore keeps accusing Mamata of being anti-Hindu in the hope that any polarization of votes would benefit the saffron party.
Trying to play catch up, Mamata has of late been visiting temples in the constituency to counter the BJP’s charge of Muslim appeasement and to show that she regards Hindu sentiments as well. Signing off she did not forget to mention her lineage (Shandilya gotra) to highlight her Brahminical roots.
But for all the emotional appeal of Mamata campaigning on a wheelchair and the son-of-the-soil claims of Suvendu, the reality is that the area remains steeped in backwardness even after a decade of TMC rule.
Not taking any chances, Mamata staged many roadshows in her constituency while Amit Shah held a roadshow to back Suvendu.
As campaigning peaked, along with anxiety in both camps, Mamata alleged the saffron party had brought workers from outside to foment trouble and had roped in members of Madhya Pradesh police to terrorize the Nandigram voters.
However, attempts to polarize the electorate were made by both sides. The BJP supporters chanted the slogan Jai Shri Ram while the TMC backers shouted Jai Hind, Jai Bangla to make an impact.
Mamata even urged the voters to stay calm and united as they had done during the 2007 protests alleging that some communal elements were out to disrupt social harmony in her constituency.
Ballots will be cast in Nandigram on April 1 but both Mamata and Suvendu await the results on May 2 with bated breath.
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