Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will file her nomination from Bhabnipur seat on Friday, with the Election Commission announcing bypolls following the state government’s request to avoid a constitutional crisis in West Bengal.
As per the schedule announced by the Election Commission of India (ECI), the by-election in Bhabnipur assembly constituency will be held on September 30. The Election Commission also said that by-polls will also be held in Samserganj and Jangipur in West Bengal and Pipli constituencies in Odisha on the same date.
Counting of votes will take place on October 3. In May, West Bengal Agriculture Minister Shobhneb Chattopadhyay had vacated the Bhabnipur assembly seat, paving the way for the chief minister to contest from the Bhabnipur seat.
Why is this by-election important for Mamata Banerjee?
After a massive electoral victory for the third time in a row in May this year, the bypoll will be crucial for Banerjee as the supremo has to win a seat in the state assembly by November 5 in line with constitutional provisions to continue as the chief minister.
Bhawanipur or Bhawanipore is Mamata’s home ground, from where she created history by unraveling the 34 years of uninterrupted rule of the CPM-led Left Front. Mamata Banerjee had won from Bhabnipur in 2011 and 2016.
A non-member of the State Legislature or Parliament can continue as a minister for six months as per the constitutional provision.
However, the CM once again expressed displeasure over the timing and phases of the assembly elections.
Speaking on this, the Chief Minister of the state said, “Only God knows how elections were held in 2021. The Center lied, yet could not defeat me. There was a conspiracy behind the attack on me in Nandigram. Thousands from outside The goons had come. Misguided about Bengal.”
The BJP and TMC have been in a face-off since the assembly elections which saw violence and the announcement of bypolls once again forced both the main parties to start a debate for the bypolls.
He will get a chance to become a member of the state assembly in the upcoming by-elections. She contested from Nandigram during the 2021 West Bengal Assembly elections, but lost to her former close aide Suvendhu Adhikari, who contested on a BJP ticket.
She lost to former TMC leader Suvendu Adhikari, who is now the Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly.
Meanwhile, the model code of conduct is in force in those districts in which elections are to be held in whole or in any part of the assembly constituency.
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