Mamata's Rejinagar pick quits poll, then takes U-turn

Kolkata: Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress (TMC) suffered a rapid shift in fortune as its Rejinagar by-election candidate Rabiul Alam Chowdhury announced his withdrawal from the contest, only to reverse his stance within hours and reiterate his intent to fight the October 6 poll at the direction of the party's chief. The move unfolded a day after Banerjee's Nandigram by-election nominee Sanchita Pradhan Dey withdrew her candidacy following a meeting with Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari.

Chowdhury, a former TMC MLA, cited challenges in motivating workers facing harassment and the difficulty of introducing a new footballer symbol to voters in a short time. He informed Mamata Banerjee of his decision to withdraw, but hours later, he hastily convened a press conference to state that he would contest the by-election, asserting that he had received assurances of security from the police following Banerjee's intervention.

The Election Commission had allocated the footballer symbol to the TMC faction loyal to Banerjee, designating it as "Mamata All India Trinamool Congress," amid a contentious dispute with the rebel group over the party's name and symbol. The rival faction, led by Arup Roy, received the name "Democratic Trinamool Congress" and the envelope symbol.

Meanwhile, Nandigram candidate Sanchita Pradhan Dey met with Adhikari at the state secretariat Nabanna before withdrawing her nomination, a day before the deadline. The reasons for her withdrawal were not immediately disclosed. In the aftermath of the sudden vacancy, Banerjee announced support for Congress's Nandigram candidate Milan Pradhan, describing Congress as a sister party, and stated that the move aimed to bolster the INDIA bloc ahead of the upcoming bypolls.

However, Pradhan's brief tenure was short-lived as he was arrested in connection with criminal cases related to the 2007 anti-land acquisition movement in Nandigram. Banerjee's camp accused the BJP government of resorting to authoritarian measures to suppress dissent and secure a decisive victory in the bypolls. The BJP's Union Minister Sukanta Majumdar dismissed these allegations as predictable from a party centered on one individual who had orchestrated attacks on the opposition BJP following the 2021 assembly polls.