‘Will defeat Mamata Banerjee by 25,000 votes’: Suvendu Adhikari ups the stakes in Bhabanipur

Launching his campaign in Bhabanipur on Thursday, the Bharatiya Janata Party MLA claimed he would defeat the Trinamool Congress supremo for the second time in his political career by a margin of at least 25,000 votes.

“I will defeat Mamata Banerjee by a margin of at least 25,000 votes. There is absolutely no contest in Nandigram—I will further increase my winning margin there.

“In Bhabanipur too, I will defeat her again, handing her a second loss against me. Narendra Modi has directed me to contest from these seats and ensure her defeat,” Adhikari said.

Responding earlier this week, Banerjee refrained from directly commenting on Adhikari’s candidature. “I have unwavering faith in the people. I serve them year-round—this isn’t a one-day battle for me,” she said.

“We will win from Bhabanipur by a bigger margin. It’s just one of the 294 constituencies for us,” the Chief Minister added.

Adding to the stakes, over 47,000 names were reportedly deleted from the electoral roll in Bhabanipur during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), raising concerns among analysts ahead of the polls.

However, projecting confidence, Banerjee said she would win from Bhabanipur “even by a single vote”, dismissing concerns over voter deletions, which her party has strongly opposed.

Meanwhile, the TMC has fielded former BJP panchayat chief and Adhikari loyalist Pabitra Kar from Nandigram—where Adhikari had handed Banerjee a shock defeat in 2021.