Mamata vs Suvendu Adhikari: A repeat clash set for Bhabanipur seat

Mamata Banerjee has filed her nomination from Bhabanipur for the 2026 WB polls, setting up a high-voltage repeat clash with BJP's Suvendu Adhikari. The contest pits TMC's welfare schemes against BJP's anti-immigrant poll plank.

West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress chairperson Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday filed her nomination at the Survey Building from Bhabanipur assembly constituency for the 2026 State Assembly elections.

Mamata Banerjee is contesting from the Bhabanipur seat, from where she will face a repeat clash with BJP leader and Leader of Opposition in West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari. Adhikari had also challenged Mamata from Nandigram in the 2021 West Bengal polls, from where he won by 1,956 votes. Following her defeat, the TMC supremo contested the bypoll from Bhabanipur, as MLA Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay resigned from the seat.

Suvendu Adhikari Files Nomination

BJP candidate Suvendu Adhikari filed his nomination for the West Bengal elections on April 2. Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP West Bengal President Samik Bhattacharya were seen accompanying Adhikari during the process. Suvendu Adhikari is contesting the two-phase West Bengal assembly polls on the BJP ticket from the Bhabanipur and Nandigram constituencies.

TMC's Campaign Strategy

Mamata Banerjee is holding several poll rallies and is eyeing a victory in her constituency, and is showing the BJP as an outsider to Bengali culture with her "egg and fish" remarks.

On several occasions, she has criticised the BJP over attacks against Bengali-speaking migrant workers in states across the country.

The TMC is backing the Lakshmir Bhandar scheme and Mamata Banerjee's '10 Pledges' mentioned in the manifesto. Under the Lakshmi Bhandar scheme, women in the general category will receive Rs 1,500 per month, SC/ST women Rs 1,700, and unemployed youth will get Rs 1,500 per month.

BJP's Counter-Plank

Meanwhile, Adhikari and the BJP are backing on the anti-illegal immigrant poll plank and repeating the result of Nandigram in Bhabanipur.

Meanwhile, speaking at Suvendu Adhikari's nomination filing, Union Minister Amit Shah electrified the crowd with his declaration, "This time no one should fear; no goon can stop the voters of Bengal. Everyone must vote without fear to uproot and throw TMC into the Bay of Bengal."

Bhabanipur is set to witness a high-voltage clash between the two senior leaders. Polling for the 294-member Assembly in West Bengal will take place in two phases on April 23 and April 29, while counting of votes is scheduled for May 4.

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