Muradanga: A high voltage campaign is likely to witness the bypolls for Bhabanipur assembly constituency in Kolkata scheduled to take place on September 30. BJP state president Dilip Ghosh Monday dropped a hint that the leader of the opposition in West Bengal assembly Suvendu Adhikari will contest against Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Ghosh's logic seems to have stemmed from the fact that Adhikari has once defeated the chief minister from Nandigram in the state assembly polls held in March this year, and this time anyone else from BJP will defeat her. Although he sounded confident on this count, he did not make it clear that who would contest for BJP in the bypolls.
In fact, BJP had been critical of the Election Commission of India (ECI)'s decision to allow by-polls in Bhabanipur assembly constituency. The saffron camp is even considering legal options to stall byelections there. At the same time, BJP has also started the process of selection of its candidate for that bypolls.
Adhikari has already said that if the party desires he is ready to contest the bypolls against the chief minister. However, Ghosh has now made it clear that someone else will contest against the chief minister in the bypolls.
Attending a public programme in Midnapore on Monday, Adhikari said, "Why should the same person defeat the chief minister again and again. The party will select an alternative candidate." When asked why BJP is yet to decide on its candidate, when Trinamool Congress has already started the campaign, Ghosh said that Trinamool's candidate selection happened much before the poll dates were announced.
Commenting on the resurgence of Maoist activities in the Jungalmahal area, Ghosh said that such activities aggravate before the polls. "This is an old tactic of threatening people. There is nothing to get worried about," he added. He, however, evaded making any comment on Enforcement Directorate summoning Trinamool Congress' all India general secretary Abhishek Banerjee for questioning.
