KOLKATA: Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly and sitting BJP MLA Suvendu Adhikari submitted nomination for Nandigram assembly constituency and expressed confidence that the party would register a decisive victory in the upcoming polls in Bengal.
Adhikari on Monday submitted his nomination papers before the sub-divisional officer (SDO) at Haldia in East Midnapore district.
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and former Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh were present during the submission of the nomination papers.
The opposition leader and two other BJP candidates fielded from Mahishadal and Haldia assembly seats respectively reached the SDO office riding in a tableau decorated with party flags and colourful balloons amid slogans of his party supporters reached Haldia and submitted their nominations.
In 2021 assembly elections, Adhikari had defeated the chief minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee by a margin of nearly 2000 votes from Nandigram.
“This time, it is easier to win from Nandigram than that of the previous elections in 2021 when the arithmetic equation was too difficult. Last time, there were around 64,000 Muslim voters in Nandigram and Mamata Banerjee had misled them in the name of NRC and CAA. The Muslims can now understand the situation because they know Modiji can give better governance than Mamata Banerjee’s administration. Besides this factor, the Hindus are united this time,” Adhikari said in a procession bound for SDO office.
He will also contest against Mamata from her home constituency Bhabanipur in south Kolkata.
“It’s a winning seat for BJP after deletions of around 48,000 voters in Bhabanipur following the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bengal. She used to win depending on bogus voters. This time it is difficult for her,” he said.