NEW DELHI: In a significant blow to the Mamata Banerjee-led faction of the Trinamool Congress (TMC), the party’s candidate for the upcoming Nandigram assembly bypoll, Sanchita Dey Pradhan, withdrew her nomination on Friday.Pradhan’s sudden departure from the race came after she met West Bengal chief minister and senior BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari in Kolkata. Her withdrawal also came just a day ahead of the deadline for withdrawing nominations. A photograph purportedly showing Adhikari and Pradhan together went viral on social media, the authenticity of which could not be confirmed.The October 6 bypoll was necessitated after Adhikari vacated the Nandigram seat to retain Bhowanipore—Mamata Banerjee’s traditional bastion—where he had defeated the then chief minister in the West Bengal assembly elections held in April.That election marked the end of the TMC’s 15-year rule, and the BJP formed its maiden government in West Bengal.
Mamata extends support to Congress
Addressing a press conference, Mamata Banerjee announced that her party would support the Congress candidate in Nandigram.Opposition leaders, including Congress’ Rahul Gandhi, had called her up to express solidarity, she added.“We are extending our support to Congress in Nandigram and in Assam. We are doing this for the greater interest of the nation… Rahul Gandhi rang me up yesterday, Arvind Kejriwal also expressed solidarity; we will all fight together against BJP,” the former chief minister said.She also strongly criticised the Election Commission over its decision to freeze the TMC’s original “flowers and grass” symbol on Thursday. Following the split in the party, the poll panel on Friday assigned the name “Mamata All India Trinamool Congress” with the “football player” symbol to Mamata Banerjee’s faction, while recognising the rebel camp led by Arup Roy as the “Democratic Trinamool Congress” with the “envelope” symbol.
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The political turmoil follows massive internal rebellion after the TMC’s assembly election loss, with over 60 of its 80 MLAs revolting against the leadership. In the Lok Sabha, 20 of the party’s 27 MPs recently merged with the Nationalist Citizens Party of India to extend support to the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre.