West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Sunday entrusted five Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLAs with the responsibility of ensuring the party's victory in the upcoming Nandigram by-election. Adhikari, a three-time legislator from Nandigram, made his first visit to the constituency after resigning from the assembly seat and opting to retain Bhowanipore.
Campaign Strategy Discussed
During the meeting, Adhikari directed senior BJP leaders to launch an aggressive campaign for the Nandigram by-poll. Kanthi MP Soumendu Adhikari was given the charge of supervising the overall campaign. The meeting was attended by several prominent party figures, including Bhagabanpur MLA Shantanu Pramanik, Patashpur MLA Tapan Maity, Ramnagar MLA Chandrasekhar Mondal, Kanthi South MLA Arup Kumar Das, and BJP functionaries Meghnad Pal, Prolay Pal, and Anjan Bharati.
Focus on Grassroots Mobilization
Briefing reporters after the meeting, Pramanik stated: "We discussed maintaining our organisational momentum post-elections, ensuring our workers remain on the ground to serve people while strictly maintaining peace and stability in the region." He added: "The Chief Minister emphasised that just because we have come into government does not mean we can sit back. We must connect with people even more deeply. Regarding the by-election, our goal is to secure a victory with a substantially higher margin than the general elections — for that, every worker from the grassroots to the booth level will work as a united front."
No Room for Complacency
Speaking at a party meeting on Saturday night, Adhikari insisted that he would not allow members to "idle." He noted that people had high expectations from the newly elected state government and that the government was fully committed to fulfilling those expectations. "No functionary, ranging from MPs and MLAs to organisational seniors, can afford to remain idle. Everyone must immediately engage with the public and consistently work with them," Adhikari added.
The by-election in Nandigram is seen as a crucial test for the BJP, which won the seat in the recent assembly elections but lost its representative when Adhikari vacated it. The party is determined to retain the seat with an increased margin, leveraging the organisational machinery and the popularity of the new government.
