NEW DELHI:Â With the Assembly elections approaching, the Bhawanipur constituency has attracted nationwide attention as it is expected to witness a high-stakes contest between the All India Trinamool Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party. As it has long been the political stronghold of Mamata Banerjee, party insiders indicate that she is likely to contest from Bhawanipur in the 2026 Assembly elections unless there is a last-minute change in strategy, while sources claim that the BJP may name Suvendu Adhikari to contest Bhawanipur.
Banerjee has represented the seat for years and has never lost an election from this constituency, making it firmly established as her home turf.
For the BJP, Bhawanipur presents an opportunity to land a symbolic political blow by defeating the Chief Minister in her own constituency. Party leaders believe that such a victory would send a strong message across West Bengal that public confidence in the ruling Trinamool Congress is declining.
During the 2021 Assembly elections, Banerjee chose to contest from Nandigram to directly take on BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari. In a closely fought battle, she lost to Adhikari by a margin of 1,956 votes. However, she later returned to her traditional stronghold and contested the Bhawanipur by-election, where she secured a resounding victory with a margin exceeding 50,000 votes.
Sources within the Trinamool Congress told The Sunday Guardian that Banerjee is expected to adopt a similar approach and contest from Bhawanipur in the upcoming Assembly elections. Meanwhile, the BJP is still weighing its options regarding who will take on the Chief Minister in the constituency.
The name of Suvendu Adhikari, currently the Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, is frequently mentioned within party circles. Political observers believe there is a strong possibility that he could be fielded against Banerjee in Bhawanipur.
Individuals familiar with the developments said Adhikari may even consider contesting from both Nandigram and Bhawanipur, although a final decision on this is yet to be taken. Through public rallies and media interactions, Adhikari has repeatedly expressed confidence about defeating the Chief Minister again.
“I defeated her in Nandigram; this time I will defeat her in Bhawanipur as well. I will make her a former chief minister by a margin of 50,000 votes,” he has stated on multiple occasions.
At the same time, speculation continues within political circles that former National Security Guard (NSG) commander Dipanjan Chakraborty could be fielded by the BJP against Banerjee. Chakraborty recently joined the party and is a familiar face on Bengali television channels, where he often comments on issues related to national security.
The Bhawanipur contest has also been marked by controversy surrounding the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls. Following the revision process, more than 47,000 voter names have reportedly been removed from the constituency’s voter list, while approximately 14,000 names have been placed under adjudication pending verification of documents.
The draft electoral roll published on December 16 last year recorded the deletion of 44,766 names. In the final list released recently, an additional 2,324 names were removed, taking the total number of deletions to 47,090. Besides these deletions, 14,154 voters have been placed in the “under adjudication” category.
BJP leaders argue that the reduction in voter numbers could significantly alter the electoral landscape in Bhawanipur. According to party strategists, the revision could reduce the total number of voters in the constituency to around 1.5 lakh, potentially making it easier for the opposition to mount a serious challenge against the Chief Minister.
The party has also alleged that Banerjee’s landslide victory in the 2021 by-election was aided by fraudulent votes cast by individuals whose names have now been removed from the electoral rolls.
Adhikari has publicly reiterated his intention to contest from Bhawanipur. “I want to contest the Bhawanipur seat. I have made all my preparations. I want to defeat Mamata Banerjee by over 20,000 votes in this seat and make her the former Chief Minister,” he said.
Banerjee, however, has rejected these claims and expressed confidence in the continued support of the electorate.
“In my constituency, 60,000 names have been deleted. In the seats won by Trinamool, between 10,000 and 30,000 names have been removed. Despite that, I will win from Bhawanipur, even if by only one vote. I believe this because I have people’s trust,” she said.
Raising concerns over the scale of deletions, the Chief Minister added, “Our Bhawanipur is a small constituency with only 2.6 lakh voters. Previously, 44,000 names were excluded, and this time, citing logistical discrepancies, you have deleted 14,000 and then another 2,000. How many voters are left?”
Banerjee has contested from the South Kolkata seat in every Assembly election since 2011, except in 2021 when she shifted to Nandigram. After losing that contest, she returned to Bhawanipur and won the by-election comfortably, thereby securing her return to the Assembly.
