Suvendu Adhikari, Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly and BJP candidate from Nandigram and Bhabanipur, held a roadshow in Nandigram on Sunday.
He expressed confidence in the party’s prospects in the state, describing the region as a “BJP stronghold” and asserting that the BJP would secure victory across constituencies in the area.
He stated, “This is a BJP stronghold…BJP will win all seats here… People here are against appeasement and are with Prime Minister Modi… BJP will win all seats… This time, the BJP will win nearly 177 seats, this is my personal analysis… Mamata Banerjee is going to lose by a huge margin even in Bhabanipur this time…”
In a separate development, Chandra Kumar Bose, grandnephew of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, criticised the BJP on Sunday, accusing the party of “dividing communities for vote bank politics.” Speaking after joining the Trinamool Congress (TMC), he likened the BJP's approach to British rule, stating that the BJP brought religion into politics, a policy opposed by his grandfather and great-granduncle.
He said, “The BJP is against the Constitution because its one-point agenda is to divide and rule, to divide communities for vote bank politics. The British, their policy was divide and rule. The BJP practices the same policies as the British. They bring religion into politics, a policy which was vehemently opposed by my grandfather, Sarat Chandra Bose, and his younger brother, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose.”
Chandra Kumar Bose added, “I cannot accept the BJP’s way of thinking… I decided to leave, and I did not immediately join any party… I found that the TMC comes close to following an inclusive and secular ideology.”
He resigned from the Bharatiya Janata Party in September 2023, after nine years, citing ideological differences.
Chandra Kumar Bose expressed confidence in the victory of the Trinamool Congress in the West Bengal election, saying, “We are having the state elections in Bengal. The TMC will definitely come out victorious… TMC has a much greater responsibility to unite the nation… all like-minded parties should unite to implement the concept of being a ‘Bharatiya’; only then will we survive… I’m not an astrologer, but definitely, Mamata Banerjee would be victorious.”
West Bengal is scheduled to hold two phases of assembly polls on April 23 and 29, with results to be declared on May 4.
The elections follow the 2021 contest in which the Trinamool Congress won a landslide 213 seats, while the BJP increased its share from a minor player to 77 seats, setting the stage for a significant electoral confrontation.