Vikrant Shekhawat : Mar 12, 2021, 12:57 PM
Purba Midnapore: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Suvendu Adhikari on Friday offered prayers at a temple in Nandigram before filing his nomination for the Assembly election in West Bengal.The BJP leader who was earlier a close aid of Trinamool Congress (TMC) will file his nomination today from the Nandigram constituency.He also interacted with the locals before going to file the nomination paper.Speaking to the reporters here, Adhikari said: "My relationship with the people of Nandigram is very old. Mamata Banerjee remembers them every five years when polls come. They will defeat her. Today I am also filing my nomination and I am also a voter of the area."Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan will also accompany Suvendu Adhikari when he files his nomination as the BJP candidate from Nandigram.West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee who will also contest the election from the same constituency filed her nomination on March 10. The TMC on March 5 released its list of candidates with Banerjee announcing that she will contest from Nandigram.Banerjee had been contesting polls from the Bhawanipore constituency so far.On March 6, the BJP fielded former TMC leader Suvendu Adhikari from the same constituency against Mamata Banerjee, setting the stage for a high-profile contest from the seat in the state assembly elections.Adhikari had earlier said that BJP will defeat TMC by over 50,000 votes from Nandigram.West Bengal will witness eight-phased Assembly polls beginning March 27. The tenure of the 16th Legislative Assembly of West Bengal will end on May 30 this year. A total of 7,34,07,832 voters will choose their representative for the 17th Legislative Assembly of West Bengal.