BJP's Suvendu Adhikari had defeated Mamata Banerjee in the Nandigram polls in Bengal. (File)
Taking a dig at West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Leader of Opposition in the state assembly Suvendu Adhikari asked what would happen if the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) fields him against her in Bhabanipur seat in the upcoming by-elections.
Addressing a public meeting at Nadia on Sunday, Mr Adhikari said, "You are such a big chief minister! Who told you (Mamata Banerjee) to come to Nandigram? Have I gone to contest from Bhabanipur? Now, if the party asks me to contest from Bhabanipur, then what will happen? I defeated her by 1956 votes. You went to Nandigram, should I come to Bhabanipur in return?"
The Trinamool has announced that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will contest from the Bhabanipur assembly constituency. TMC leaders Jakir Hossain and Amirul Islam will be the party's candidates from Jangipur and Samserganj seats respectively.
On Saturday, the Election Commission has announced by-elections to three assembly seats in West Bengal on September 30. These constituencies include Bhabanipur, the traditional seat of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, from where she will contest the by-elections.
Besides Bhabanipur, by-polls will be held in Samserganj and Jangipur constituencies. The counting of votes will take place on October 3.
Mamata Banerjee was defeated by BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari in the Nandigram assembly constituency.
Following this, the Bhabanipur assembly seat was vacated by West Bengal Agriculture Minister Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay in May, making way for West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to contest from the seat. The election on the seat is crucial for Banerjee to win if she has to remain the chief minister of the state.
The Mamata Banerjee-led TMC registered a landslide victory in polls winning 213 seats in the 294-member West Bengal assembly. Despite aggressive campaigning, the BJP lost the polls but emerged as the second-largest party with 77 seats.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)