TMC rebels says they will not field candidate if Mamata Banerjee contests Nandigram bye-poll

The Trinamool Congress faction led by Ritabrata Banerjee on Saturday said that it will not field a candidate for the bye-elections in West Bengal’s Nandigram Assembly constituency if party chief Mamata Banerjee contests the seat, The Hindu reported.

Ritabrata Banerjee said that his faction wants Mamata Banerjee to be elected to the Assembly and that “it will be better if she comes from Nandigram”, the newspaper reported.

He added that his faction had almost finalised its candidate but would withdraw the nominee if the party chief chooses to contest, even as an independent candidate. Mamata Banerjee’s faction is yet to announce a candidate.

Ritabrata Banerjee’s statement came hours after the Election Commission met representatives of the two TMC factions in connection with their claim to the party’s name and electoral symbol.

Both groups want to contest the bye-polls on the “twin grass flowers” symbol. The nomination period for the bye-polls ends on Wednesday.

Mamata Banerjee stopped being a member of the Assembly after she lost to Bharatiya Janata Party leader Suvendu Adhikari in the Bhabanipur constituency in the May polls. She had lost by more than 15,000 votes.

Adhikari, who became the chief minister after BJP won the state elections, had also won the Nandigram seat, defeating TMC’s Pabitra Kar by more than 9,600 votes.

Mamata Banerjee had lost to Adhikari in...

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