High-Voltage Clash: BJP Pits Suvendu Against Mamata At Nandigram

New Delhi: It’s official – former Trinamool Congress (TMC) heavyweight Suvendu Adhikari will run against West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee for the most high-profile Nandigram assembly seat in the upcoming state elections.

The BJP released its first list of candidates for the 294-member West Bengal Vidhan Sabha polls, to be held in eight phases starting from March 27.

In other mega match-ups, former West Bengal CID officer Bharati Ghosh of BJP will battle it out for the Debra seat against another former cop Humayun Kabir who recently quit service to join Trinamool Congress.

Bengal and India cricketer Ashok Dinda, who joined the BJP a few days ago, will be fielded by the saffron party from home turf Moyna constituency, against TMC’s Sangram Kumar.

Seven of the 57 candidates BJP announced on Saturday are women.

Dinesh Trivedi joins BJP

One name expected to feature in BJP’s upcoming list is yet another Trinamool veteran Dinesh Trivedi. The former Union Railway minister and Rajya Sabha MP, who had announced his resignation from TMC in the Rajya Sabha on February 12, joined the saffron brigade on March 6.

After being welcomed into the BJP fold by party president JP Nadda, in the presence of Union ministers Dharmendra Pradhan and Piyush Goyal, Trivedi said this was a golden moment he had been waiting for.

Also Read: Mamata Banerjee Slams 8-Phase Bengal Polls: ‘Is It On PM’s Suggestion?’