Kolkata, March 17 The political rivalry in Nandigram that defined West Bengal’s 2021 assembly polls is set to return to the forefront, with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her former protégé, Suvendu Adhikari, competing in Bhabanipur, effectively making it the likely key battleground for the 2026 elections.
With Mamata Banerjee contesting from Bhabanipur and BJP leader Adhikari as her opponent, the contest has quickly become a prestige battle, not just for a seat in the Assembly, but for political supremacy in a state where the rivalry between the two leaders has come to symbolize the broader conflict between the TMC and the BJP.
In the 2021 polls, Adhikari defeated Banerjee in Nandigram by a narrow margin of 1,956 votes, a result that forced Mamata to contest a by-election from Bhabanipur, which she had previously held.
Five years later, this contest has shifted to Bhabanipur.
"We will win Bhabanipur with the maximum number of votes," Mamata Banerjee stated, addressing the BJP challenge, asserting that the saffron party would see a decline in its support in the upcoming election.
Political observers believe that the BJP's decision to field Adhikari from Bhabanipur, in addition to his traditional seat in Nandigram, is a calculated move to make the constituency the focal point of the election, recreating the political dynamics of Nandigram but on Mamata's home turf.
Bhabanipur has been a safe stronghold for the TMC since it came to power in 2011. The constituency includes Mamata's residence and has consistently returned her to the Assembly.
Following her defeat in Nandigram in 2021, TMC leader Shovandeb Chattopadhyay vacated the seat to allow Mamata to contest the by-election. She won with a significant margin of more than 58,000 votes and secured nearly 72% of the vote share.
However, Bhabanipur has unexpectedly emerged as a constituency under intense political scrutiny ahead of the 2026 polls.
The electoral rolls have been revised, adding a new dimension to the contest. More than 47,000 names have been removed from the voter list – 44,786 at the draft stage and another 2,324 in the subsequent stage. Over 14,000 electors remain under review pending judicial scrutiny.
The scale of these removals has gained political significance, as it is roughly 11,000 fewer than the margin of over 58,000 votes by which Mamata won the by-election in 2021, a comparison that is fueling competing narratives between the ruling TMC and the BJP regarding the potential electoral impact of the voter list revision.
In contrast, around 11,000 names have been removed from the voter list in Nandigram, represented by Adhikari.
Mamata has been a vocal critic of the voter list revision, alleging attempts to manipulate the electoral rolls, while BJP leaders argue that the cleanup will make the contest more transparent.
For the BJP, fielding Adhikari from Bhabanipur is as much a psychological move as an electoral strategy.
Having already defeated Mamata in Nandigram – a symbolic stronghold of the TMC's land movement politics – Adhikari's candidature allows the BJP to frame the election as a direct leadership contest between the state's two most prominent political figures.
The BJP leadership has also been steadily building a narrative that Bhabanipur could become competitive given the changed political circumstances.
Adhikari and senior BJP leaders, including former state president Sukanta Majumdar, have made repeated visits to the constituency in recent months, signaling the party's intention to convert the seat into a prestige battle.
The Mamata Banerjee–Suvendu Adhikari rivalry represents one of the most dramatic political fallouts in Bengal's recent history.
Once among Mamata's closest lieutenants and a key architect of the TMC's rise in the politically volatile Jangalmahal and coastal belts, Adhikari switched to the BJP ahead of the 2021 elections, triggering one of the most high-profile defections in state politics.
His victory over Mamata in Nandigram became the defining moment of that election, even though the TMC swept the state with a resounding mandate.
The Bhabanipur contest now threatens to revive this narrative, potentially turning a single constituency into a symbolic referendum on the leadership of both camps.
More broadly, the face-off encapsulates the larger dynamics shaping the 2026 West Bengal elections.
The TMC is seeking a fourth consecutive term in office, banking on welfare schemes, organizational strength and Mamata Banerjee’s personal popularity. The BJP, meanwhile, is attempting to revive the aggressive challenger role it played in 2021 by framing the election as a leadership contest against Mamata.
Polling for the 294-member West Bengal Assembly is scheduled in two phases on April 23 and April 29.
But even before the campaign fully gains momentum, political attention has already converged on Bhabanipur.
For the TMC, retaining the seat would reaffirm the CM's political dominance in her own backyard. For the BJP, wresting it would deliver a political shockwave far beyond the boundaries of a single constituency.
Either way, Bhabanipur has become the stage for what many in Bengal’s political circles are already calling the “mother of all electoral battles.”