Former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday announced that her faction of the Trinamool Congress would support the Congress candidate in the upcoming Nandigram Assembly bypoll. This comes hours after her party’s candidate, Sanchita Pradhan Dey, withdrew from the contest.
Addressing a press conference at her Kalighat residence, Mamata Banerjee said the decision had been taken in the “larger interest” of the country and to strengthen the opposition alliance. “We had decided earlier; we have given our support to the Congress in Nandigram,” she said, describing the Congress as a “sister party”.
The announcement came shortly after Sanchita Pradhan Dey withdrew her nomination. The Mamata-led faction had named the teacher as its candidate on Sunday, but she pulled out of the October 6 contest on Friday, leaving the party with no time to nominate a replacement as the nomination process had already ended. Dey met with West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Thursday night before withdrawing her candidature. The circumstances surrounding her decision have since become a point of political contention.
During the press conference, Mamata Banerjee also referred to her conversation with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, saying the two parties would continue to work together. “Rahulji called me yesterday. We are together. We will not surrender to the BJP,” she said. She added that her faction would support its “sister party” wherever necessary and said the move was aimed at strengthening the broader opposition alliance.
The Nandigram bypoll was necessitated after CM Suvendu Adhikari vacated the seat, retaining Bhabanipur after winning both constituencies in the Assembly elections earlier this year. Nandigram has particular significance for Mamata Banerjee, who lost the constituency to Adhikari in the 2021 Assembly election.
Meanwhile, the Election Commission froze the All India Trinamool Congress name and its reserved “Flowers & Grass” symbol amid a dispute between rival factions. The poll panel subsequently allotted the Mamata-led faction the name Mamata All India Trinamool Congress and the Football Player symbol, while the rival faction was allotted Democratic Trinamool Congress and the Envelope symbol. Mamata Banerjee has strongly objected to the Election Commission’s interim decision, while Congress leaders at the national level have backed her in the dispute.
Mamata All India Trinamool Congress’s decision to extend support to the Grand Old Party has drawn criticism from Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury. “Didi's candidate for Nandigram ran away. Now, we await the fate of the candidate from Rejinagar; perhaps he, too, will flee, for they belong to a party of deserters,” Chowdhury said.
Referring to Mamata’s political origins in the Congress, Chowdhury urged voters opposed to the BJP to back his party. “There stands a great banyan tree, the Congress party itself, so voting for the leaves that have fallen from this banyan tree amounts to an insult to the tree...“Where the Indian National Congress stands tall, do not look at any other 'Congress' faction; instead, extend your direct support to the Congress,” said Chowdhury.
