West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will take on her former aide-turned-rival Suvendu Adhikari of the BJP in Bhabanipur, setting up a high-stakes contest in the upcoming Assembly elections.
The Bhabanipur contest is expected rekindle the 2021 Banerjee-Adhikari rivalry in Nandigram, where the BJP chief in the State defeated the CM by a narrow margin despite the TMC sweeping the State.
Announcing candidates, Banerjee said the All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) will contest 291 of the 294 seats, leaving three in the Darjeeling hills to ally Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha (BGPM). The party is seeking a record fourth consecutive term.
The TMC has also dropped 74 sitting MLAs — nearly a third of its strength — in an attempt to counter anti-incumbency while retaining its organisational base. Of 224 MLAs, 135 (around 60 per cent) have been retained and 15 shifted to new constituencies.