The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has fielded the mother of West Bengal chief minister Suvendu Adhikari’s slain personal assistant (PA) as its candidate for the October 6 by-poll to the Nandigram assembly seat.
Chandranath Rath , the PA, was shot dead three days before Adhikari took the oath as the chief minister on May 6, after the BJP swept to power in West Bengal for the first time, ending Trinamool Congress (TMC)’s 15-year rule. Banerjee designed the symbol before launching the TMC in 1998. The results for the two Bengal by-polls will be announced on October 9. The deadline for filing nominations is September 16, the day both factions have to submit additional documents to the ECI to establish their claim on the symbol. On June 3, the assembly speaker recognised 58 rebel TMC legislators as the principal opposition party in the House.
In April, Humayun Kabir of Aam Janata Unnayan Party won Nowda and Rejinagar seats. In July, the Central Bureau of Investigation arrested two Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers for allegedly planning Rath’s murder. The rival factions are fighting their first electoral battle amid uncertainty over who the Election Commission of India (ECI) will grant the right to the TMC poll symbol. Both factions met chief electoral commissioner Gyanesh Kumar in Delhi last week. Mamata Banerjee approached the Supreme Court, which referred the matter to the ECI. He retained Nowda.
