Bhabanipur, April 29 (IANS) A brief electoral face-off unfolded in Bhabanipur on Wednesday as West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari arrived at Ward No. 73 of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation in Chakraberia at the same time to inspect a polling booth.

However, the leaders did not have an interaction.

The development came as the voting for the second phase of the West Bengal Assembly elections was underway on Wednesday morning, with 142 seats across south Bengal going to polls.

Bhabanipur has emerged as one of the most closely watched constituencies in the state, where the electoral battle is largely perceived as a direct contest between the ruling Trinamool Congress and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party.

The seat carries added political weight as it is Mamata Banerjee’s traditional stronghold, prompting the BJP to field Suvendu Adhikari as a key challenger.

Adhikari is also contesting from Nandigram, the constituency where he defeated Banerjee in the 2021 Assembly elections. Nandigram had already gone to the polls in the first phase.

The Bhabanipur contest is being seen as a rematch of Nandigram, where Adhikari had emerged victorious over Banerjee, who was once his political mentor before he switched from the Trinamool Congress to the BJP ahead of the 2021 elections.

For both parties, the stakes in Bhabanipur are considerable. For the Trinamool Congress, the contest is viewed as a matter of prestige tied to the authority of its chief minister in her home turf. For the BJP, and particularly for Adhikari, a victory against Banerjee in this constituency would send a strong political signal.

Bhabanipur has remained a Trinamool bastion since 2011. Senior party leader Subrata Bakshi had initially won the seat before vacating it, enabling Banerjee to enter the Assembly through a bypoll after assuming office as chief minister. She went on to retain the constituency in the 2016 elections.

In 2021, Banerjee shifted her electoral focus to Nandigram but lost to Adhikari by a margin of 1,956 votes. She later returned to the Assembly by winning the Bhabanipur bypoll, defeating BJP candidate Priyanka Tibrewal by a margin exceeding 58,000 votes.

As polling progresses, Bhabanipur continues to remain at the centre of political attention, reflecting both historical significance and contemporary electoral rivalry in West Bengal.

–IANS

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