Kolkata, March 21 With just a month left for the first phase of the West Bengal assembly elections, the ruling TMC is preparing to launch a comprehensive campaign, led by party supremo and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in North Bengal and her nephew Abhishek in the southern districts, a strategy aimed at countering the BJP across two distinct electoral battlegrounds.
Party sources said Mamata Banerjee will formally launch the campaign in North Bengal, a region long considered a stronghold of the BJP, with a large rally at the Alipurduar Parade Ground on March 24. The chief minister is also scheduled to address meetings on the same day in Matigara in Darjeeling district and Maynaguri in Jalpaiguri.
This move signals a clear attempt by the TMC leadership to regain political ground in the northern belt, where the BJP had made significant inroads in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and maintained a strong presence through the 2021 assembly elections.
Political observers note that despite the TMC's improved performance in the 2024 parliamentary polls, North Bengal continues to be a key battleground, with the BJP hoping to consolidate its support among the Rajbanshi, tribal, and migrant communities.
"Mamata Banerjee leading the charge from Alipurduar sends a clear message that the party is taking the BJP's challenge in North Bengal seriously," a senior TMC leader said.
The chief minister is expected to leave for North Bengal after addressing a workers' conference in her own constituency, Bhabanipur, on Sunday evening, where she is likely to outline the party's strategy for the upcoming elections.
The meeting at Ahindra Mancha in Chetla will bring together booth workers and local leaders of the Bhabanipur assembly segment, including state TMC president Subrata Bakshi, Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim, South Kolkata district president Debasish Kumar, and councillors from the area.
This mobilization is significant because Bhabanipur, traditionally considered Mamata Banerjee's political stronghold, has emerged as a closely watched constituency after the BJP fielded Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari against her.
Party insiders said the leadership is keen to ensure there is "no room for complacency" despite Bhabanipur's reputation as a TMC stronghold.
The stakes have been further raised by the Election Commission's (EC) revision of electoral rolls, which reportedly led to the deletion of around 47,000 names from the constituency's voter list.
TMC sources said Banerjee has already held multiple meetings at her Kalighat residence with booth-level agents and organizational coordinators to assess the impact of the revision and streamline the party's ground mobilization.
In the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, TMC candidate Mala Roy had secured a lead of about 6,500 votes in Bhabanipur, but the BJP had surged ahead in five municipal wards, a factor that has prompted the party to assign specific responsibilities to senior leaders for key wards ahead of the assembly battle.
While the chief minister spearheads the campaign in the north, Abhishek Banerjee, the party's national general secretary and widely seen as the organization's chief campaign strategist, will kick off his campaign from Patharpratima in South 24 Parganas on the same day.
From there, Abhishek is expected to move swiftly into the politically volatile Medinipur belt, addressing rallies in Daspur, Keshiary, and Narayangarh on March 25 before holding a workers' meeting in Nandigram.
The Nandigram visit carries significant symbolic and political weight.
The constituency had emerged as the epicentre of the 2021 assembly election when Mamata Banerjee was defeated by Adhikari in a high-voltage contest that had come to symbolise the TMC-BJP rivalry in Bengal.
This time, the TMC has fielded Pabitra Kar, a former associate of Adhikari who recently switched camps and joined the ruling party in the presence of Abhishek Banerjee, setting the stage for another closely watched contest.
Political analysts believe Abhishek's early focus on the Medinipur region reflects the party's effort to blunt the BJP's organizational strength in the Jangalmahal and coastal belts.
"Abhishek's style of campaigning is more organizational and cadre-driven. He tends to focus on consolidating the booth network and energising the grassroots machinery," a political analyst said.
Sources said the Diamond Harbour MP will also travel to North Bengal later in the month, with plans to address rallies and roadshows in at least nine assembly segments across the region on March 26, 28, and 31.
The staggered campaign schedule, with Mamata focusing on the northern districts and Abhishek covering southern Bengal, is being seen within the party as a strategic division of political turf ahead of what the TMC calls a battle to retain power for a fourth consecutive term.
The election assumes high stakes for all sides.
While the TMC is banking on its welfare-driven governance model and Mamata Banerjee's personal popularity, the BJP is attempting to convert its parliamentary gains into a broader electoral consolidation across the state.
With the first phase of polling scheduled on April 23 across 152 assembly constituencies, the coming weeks are expected to witness an intense campaign battle, one that will test the TMC's organizational muscle against the BJP's growing political footprint in Bengal.