Bhabanipur (West Bengal)

BJP candidate from Bhabanipur Assembly constituency, Suvendu Adhikari, filed his nomination for the West Bengal elections on Thursday.

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 Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ticket from Bhabanipur and Nandigram constituencies.

This time, the West Bengal elections will see a face-off between Adhikari and Trinamool Congress Chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for the Bhabanipur seat, while Adhikari will also try to retain Nandigram.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee lost the Nandigram seat in the 2021 assembly elections against Adhikari, but later secured victory in the Bhabanipur by-election against Priyanka Tibrewal.

Earlier today, Union Home Minister Amit Shah held a massive roadshow in Bhabanipur Assembly constituency, urging voters to support the BJP ahead of the West Bengal Assembly elections.

The rally, attended by party workers and supporters in large numbers, marked a high-profile show of support for the BJP in the key constituency.

Earlier, speaking at the nomination filing event of senior BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari, Shah highlighted issues he said were affecting the state, including corruption, extortion, youth unemployment, and illegal infiltration.

"Today, all of Bengal is distressed--distressed by extortion, distressed by the hooliganism of Trinamool Congress workers, distressed by the lack of security for women, and distressed by the changing demography of Bengal due to unchecked infiltration. People are distressed by frequent bomb blasts and gunfire, by youth unemployment, and by the record-breaking corruption set by Mamata ji," he said.

"The entire population of Bengal is demanding a change in this great state. Under the leadership of PM Modi, a BJP government must be formed here. We must seal the borders of West Bengal and pick out and expel every infiltrator from Bengal and across the country," Shah added.

The Home Minister also outlined the party's vision for a prosperous state, saying, "We want to build the 'Sonar Bangla' envisioned by Vivekananda, Poet-Guru Tagore, Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, and Syama Prasad Mukherjee. That is why this change is necessary."

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The 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.

In the last assembly election in the state, held in eight phases in 2021, the Trinamool Congress recorded a landslide victory with 213 seats amid an intense contest with the BJP, which jumped to 77 seats. Congress and Left Front drew a blank in the last state polls.