Kolkata, March 30 (IANS) Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly Suvendu Adhikari on Monday filed his nomination as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate from the Nandigram Assembly constituency in East Midnapore district of West Bengal.

Adhikari is a two-time legislator from Nandigram, first representing the Trinamool Congress from 2016 to 2021 and then the BJP from 2021 onwards. Nandigram will go to the polls in the first phase of the two-phase Assembly elections in West Bengal on April 23.

This time, Adhikari is also contesting from the Bhabanipur Assembly constituency in south Kolkata, where he is pitted against Trinamool Congress candidate and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Bhabanipur will go to the polls in the second phase on April 29.

Adhikari, accompanied by former BJP national vice-president and former state party president Dilip Ghosh and Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, arrived at the office of the Sub-Divisional Officer in Haldia on Monday afternoon to submit his nomination, leading a grand procession.

Thereafter, he submitted his nomination.

Along with Adhikari, two other BJP candidates from East Midnapore district — Subhash Panja from the Mahishadal Assembly constituency and Pradip Kumar Bijli from the Haldia Assembly constituency — also submitted their nominations.

Adhikari was elected from Nandigram in the 2021 West Bengal Assembly elections, defeating the then Trinamool Congress candidate and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee by a margin of less than 2,000 votes.

Later, CM Mamata Banerjee was elected from Bhabanipur in a by-election, retaining her position as Chief Minister for a third consecutive term.

This will be the second time that the Chief Minister and the Leader of the Opposition will be engaged in a direct contest.

In Nandigram, the Trinamool Congress has fielded Pabitra Kar, an erstwhile close confidant of Adhikari. Notably, Kar joined the Trinamool Congress just hours before the party announced its candidate list.

–IANS

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