The epic face-off and the tale of Nandigram

Nandigram is all set for the big battle, which is more or less viewed as 'the epic face-off' between Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Suvendu Adhikari, who untill recently was her 'trusted lieutenant'. This battle is important for both parties, especially for Mamata who left her home turf Bhabanipur and is contesting from Nandigram. Interestingly, Didi has decided to contest only from Nandigram. For her, the Nandigram battle is personal and winning from there is paramount as she is pitted against her one-time protégé – Suvendu Adhikari. Adhikari had won from this seat in 2016 on a TMC ticket but he recently deserted TMC and crossed over to the BJP. Nandigram, the seat Mamata chose to fight on, was once the epicentre of a farmers' movement that propelled her and TMC to power in Bengal ten years ago. Nandigram is important for TMC’s political past as well as future. Almost 14 years ago, on March 27 in 2007, 14 unarmed villagers were killed in police firing. The villagers were protesting against the then Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPI(M) government’s decision to build a special economic zone in the area. This move had angered the villagers who needed those lands for agriculture. The killing of the farmers eventually led to the fall of the Left Front government.