Nandigram, one of the 30 seats where voting is taking place in West Bengal on Thursday, has become the epicentre of the electoral contest not only in the second phase of polls but of all Assembly elections. While stakes are high for BJP candidate Suvendu Adhikari in Nandigram, Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has practically risked her political future by challenging her party’s former heavyweight in this constituency.
If Suvendu Adhikari defeats Mamata Banerjee at Nandigram, the result could see her Trinamool Congress going the same way as the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) went in Bengal after electoral loss in 2011. Today, there is no TMC without Mamata Banerjee as a leader of the masses.
Even if TMC wins the Bengal polls and Suvendu Adhikari grabs Nandigram seat, it will be very difficult for Mamata Banerjee to return as chief minister with the same political authority she has wielded in the past 10 years. Clearly, Nandigram is voting to decide Mamata Banerjee’s political future in Bengal.
Nandigram was a Left bastion for decades with occasional Congress tilt. In the first Assembly election held in 1951, when Nandigram had two assembly constituencies — North and South, the Congress won both.
The Congress shared Nandigram with the CPI in 1957, with the latter winning the South constituency. In 1962, the Congress won both the seats.
The present Nandigram constituency came into being in 1967, with CPI winning this seat. The CPI went on to win this seat seven more times till 2006 Bengal Assembly polls.
