Bengal Assembly Election 2021: All eyes are set on the Nandigram candidature as West Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh has hinted that Suvendu Adhikari may get ticket from the West Bengal seat. This assumes significance as Mamata is scheduled to contest from Nandigram, the seat that had brought Banerjee to power 14 years ago. The battle lines now seem to be drawn as Mamata is most likely to be challenged by Adikari, who was once her close aide but later switched sides with BJP. Adhikari had earlier asserted he will defeat his former boss by “at least 50,000 votes” if fielded from the Nandigram constituency.

Dilip Ghosh on Wednesday said that the party’s state unit has shortlisted on an average of 4-5 names per seat for the initial two phases of polling in the state and the list of candidates for those phases will be finalised on March 4.

The party’s Central Election Committee (CEC) that makes the decision of who will contest from which constituency will meet in New Delhi today to finalise the candidates list for 60 seats. Polling will be held in 30 seats each on March 27 and April 1.

“We have received 120-140 names from our district units for the first two phases. In addition to that, there are hundreds of other names. We had 20-25 names for each seat and from that, we have shortlisted around 4-5 names per seat. There will be some more omission and after that, it is for the party leadership to decide,” Ghosh said.

“This reflects that people from various walks of life are very eager to join us,” he told reporters.

What to Expect From BJP’s Ticket Distribution?

The BJP is in two minds on whether to field Adhikari from the Nandigram seat or not. He was the MLA of this seat before resigning and joining the saffron party in December last year. After having a limited presence in the politically polarised state for decades, the BJP has emerged as the ruling TMCs main rival by winning 18 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal in the 2019 general elections.

Ghosh’s name is also doing the rounds for the Kharagpur Sadar seat which he had won in 2016 before resigning in 2019 after getting elected to the Lok Sabha, and Gopiballupur seat, the sources said.

About Bengal Elections 2021:

Elections in Bengal, poised to be a tough contest between the TMC and the BJP, will be held in eight phases between March 27 and April 29. Votes will be counted on May 2.