A few weeks ago, Mamata Banerjee made a courageous decision – to contest from Nandigram, the stronghold of Suvendu Adhikari, a former TMC leader, who joined BJP ahead of the Bengal polls. Now, she is fully consumed with winning the constituency of Nandigram in order to escape the humiliation while BJP is all set to sweep the rest of the state.
Suvendu Adhikari, the leader who had an unchallenged position in Nandigram and the surrounding areas for more than a decade, has regularly exposed the Muslim appeasement politics of Mamata Banerjee during the campaigns.
“Mamata regularly says ‘Eid Mubarak’, it has become a habit of hers. So much so that, on the occasion of Dol (the spring festival in Bengal, usually preceding Holi), she wished everyone ‘Holi Mubarak’,” said Adhikari in a campaign rally on Monday.
“She is trying to act like a Hindu now. She acts according to the seat she is campaigning for. While campaigning in Egra, she was reciting the kalmas (Islamic phrases). In Nandigram, she was chanting the wrong Chandipath (Hindu mantra),” he added.
Adhikari is trying to ensure that the Hindu population of the constituency rallies behind him en masse because that is the only way for him to win. Given the fact that almost one-third of the voters are Muslims who will not vote for BJP, Adhikari has to rally for Hindu votes to win the election. “If begum (Mamata Banerjee) comes back to power, the state will turn into a mini Pakistan,” said Adhikari in a rally.
However, the tough contest in the constituency of Nandigram is proving more harmful to TMC because it is draining the energy of Mamata Banerjee, the only big leader that the party is left with.
West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC leader Mamata Banerjee leads a 'padyatra' in Bhagabeda of Nandigram. pic.twitter.com/Eu8AjGPJ0v
— ANI (@ANI) March 30, 2021
Mamata Banerjee is doing padayatra in Nandigram before the phase two election while the BJP leaders are focused on other constituencies and other phases of the elections.
There are 30 seats in phase two of Bengal polls but Mamata Banerjee has not been able to get out of Nandigram for the last 3 days! Despite her apparent nervousness and staying put in the constituency, ignoring other seats going to poll, she is losing…
BJP will sweep phase two!
— Amit Malviya (मोदी का परिवार) (@amitmalviya) March 30, 2021
Mamata Banerjee has even allegedly started threatening the officials who are entertaining her whims and fancies and warned them about the consequences they will face when the central forces leave. The TMC goons are resorting to political violence to stop the tsunami of BJP, and not only karyakartas but their families are also being attacked.
Mamata Banerjee took a courageous step to contest from Nandigram but now her move has started backfiring because Adhikari has cornered her on many fronts. First, he deployed the outsider tactic against Banerjee and then used her Muslim appeasement as a weapon against her.
“Do you want the son of Medinipur’s soil or do you want to see Nandigram through Sheikh Sufian’s eyes? They have created a small Pakistan in various gram panchayats. If Pakistan wins a cricket match, they burst crackers, distribute sweets and eat meat. Do you want to hand over Nandigram to them…think about it,” said Adhikari.
BJP has claimed that it is going to win at least 26 of the 30 seats that went for the polls in the first phase. The decision to contest from Nandigram would cost Mamata Banerjee heavily. She was set to lose anyway from the moment Adhikari defected because it gave BJP an edge in the region, but her focus on a single-seat would ensure that even the constituencies which her party could have won slips away. This mistake would completely uproot TMC from the state in the 2021 assembly election.