Mamata reaches out to TMC veteran Akhil Giri as it weighs local face for Nandigram bypoll
The move comes at a particularly difficult juncture for the TMC, which lost power to the BJP in the May assembly elections after 15 years in office.
Mamata Banerjee, the leader of the Trinamool Congress (TMC), has been in contact with veteran party member Akhil Giri, who may be considered for the Nandigram bypoll. This development has sparked speculation about the TMC's intentions to reclaim political ground in a constituency that played a pivotal role in their rise and fall.
Giri, who spoke to Banerjee on the phone and later invited her to meet at her Kalighat residence, stated that he conveyed his suggestions to the party over WhatsApp. He emphasized that the final decision on the candidate rests with Banerjee and that preference should be given to a local candidate. The Nandigram bypoll holds significant importance for the TMC, as it was the epicenter of the 2007 anti-land acquisition movement that propelled Banerjee to power in 2011, but later became a stage for the party's biggest political reversal when she contested against her former lieutenant Adhikari in 2016.
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