West Bengal: Suvendu Adhikari alleges ‘atrocities’ by Mamata govt, claims TMC tried to block Bhabanipur visit

Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari. File Pic

Leader of Opposition in West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, on Thursday, accused West Bengal Chief Minister (CM) Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress government in the state of indulging in 'atrocities'.

He made the accusation upon his arrival in the state's Bhabanipur constituency to campaign for the upcoming assembly elections.

West Bengal will vote in two phases in the assembly elections scheduled to be held on April 23 and April 29. The results will be announced on May 4.

TMC tried to block visit, alleges Adhikari

Adhikari will contest the election from the Bhabanipur constituency.

While speaking to reporters, the BJP leader said, "After I came here, hawkers, taxi drivers, small shopkeepers, all of them are saying that they are fed up with Mamata Banerjee's atrocities. They have asked me to save them. I have given them my mobile number. I have come here to save them."

The Bengal Leader of Opposition claimed that the Trinamool Congress had kept 20 of its workers in the area since morning, before his arrival.

"To obstruct me, to show black flags and do such things," he said, adding, "They fled before I came here. It is a good signal."

"The beginning has been made; Mamata (Banerjee) should go. What we are witnessing today is the wave of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and a tide of change. This voting trend will soon turn into a tsunami", stated Adhikari.

Adhikari predicts Mamata's defeat by 25,000-30,000 votes in Bhabanipur

Of the 294 assembly constituencies in West Bengal that will go to the polls next month, the spotlight is on the Bhabanipur Assembly Constituency, where CM Banerjee will lock horns with Adhikari, in what is expected to be a high-stakes battle.

"The party workers wanted, and PM Modi gave me (this opportunity). You can assume that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will lose by 25,000 to 30,000 votes," he said.

Adhikari is also contesting simultaneously from the Nandigram Assembly constituency in East Midnapore district, where he has been a two-time legislator, first for the Trinamool Congress from 2016 to 2021 and then for the BJP from 2021 onwards.

One of the key factors that makes this contest particularly significant is the community-wise voter distribution in Bhabanipur, a post-delimitation constituency formed in 2011 by merging the erstwhile Alipore Assembly Constituency with parts of the Chowrangee Assembly Constituency in south Kolkata.

(With inputs from IANS)