Team News Riveting
Kolkata, September 7
Congress high command allegedly set aside the views of a section of party leaders in the state unit and decided not to field its candidate against West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in Bhabanipur.
Mamata Banerjee is likely to contest the by-election from Bhabanipur that she has represented twice. She has to get elected to the state legislative assembly before November 5 as she took oath as Chief Minister on May 5 despite losing from Nandigram. The constituency will go to the polls on September 30. The counting of votes will take place on October 3.
Bengal Congress president Adhir Chowdhury said that the high command has informed that Congress would not field any candidate against Mamata Banerjee in Bhabanipur. The reason cited was that Congress by all means did not want to help BJP in any way by putting up a candidate against Mamata.
Political observers felt that the Congress was in a state of confusion as it did not want to ignore TMC that was fast emerging as an important factor in the national politics. Even Mamata Banerjee had come close to the Gandhi family.
Chowdhury, who was instrumental in forming an alliance with Left parties in the May state elections to take on Mamata, had said that equations had since changed and a section of the Bengal Congress wants to put up a candidate against Mamata Banerjee.
