Kolkata, April 8 – West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee filed her nomination from her native Assembly constituency of Bhabanipur in South Kolkata on Wednesday.
The list of proposers on her nomination form reflected the “cosmopolitan” nature of Bhabanipur, which is considered a melting pot of people from almost the entire country.
The proposers on her nomination form include Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim’s wife, Ismat Hakim (representing Muslims), actress-turned-politician and Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha member Koel Mallick’s husband, Nishpal Singh Rane (representing Punjabis), local Trinamool Congress block President Bablu Singh (representing Biharis), and Bhabanipur Education Society representative Miraj Shah (representing Gujaratis).
The Chief Minister started from her residence on Harish Chatterjee Street in South Kolkata and walked down, leading a procession to submit her nomination at the Alipore Survey Building, which is barely a kilometre away from her residence.
She was accompanied by Firhad Hakim, her brothers Kartik Banerjee and Swapan Banerjee, her sister-in-law Kajari Banerjee, and the local party councillor, Sandip Bakshi, among others.
After filing her nomination, the Chief Minister spoke to the media and said that she stays with the people of Bhabanipur throughout the year. “My entire life has revolved around Bhabanipur. I have lived in this constituency since childhood, and I will continue to do so forever. My entire life and political career have been centered around Bhabanipur. So today, I take the opportunity to thank and honour the people of Bhabanipur,” the Chief Minister said.
As a precaution, the police cordoned off a part of the road with barricades to control the crowd while the Chief Minister's procession was underway, with thousands of people gathering on the side of the road. The Chief Minister led the procession and waved at the people.
This time in Bhabanipur, the Chief Minister is contesting against the Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, who is also contesting simultaneously from his native Nandigram Assembly Constituency in East Midnapore district, where he is a two-time MLA, first for Trinamool Congress from 2016 to 2021 and then for the Bharatiya Janata Party from 2021 to date.
For reference, in 2021, Adhikari won from Nandigram, defeating Mamata Banerjee by a margin of less than 2,000 votes. Later, she won the by-election from Bhabanipur and retained her position as the Chief Minister of West Bengal for her third consecutive term.