Bhabanipur: Mamata’s political refuge, BJP’s psychological battleground in Bengal’s prestige war

KOLKATA: (Apr 26) In West Bengal’s political imagination, Bhabanipur is no longer just another south Kolkata assembly seat. It is Mamata Banerjee’s political refuge and home turf, the BJP’s chosen psychological battlefield, where the stage is set for what many in Bengal are calling the “mother of all electoral contests”.

With Banerjee, the chief minister and three-term MLA from the constituency, locked in a direct contest with Leader of Opposition and BJP heavyweight Suvendu Adhikari, the April 29 election has turned Bhabanipur into the state’s most closely watched prestige fight.

Bhabanipur is effectively bracing for a symbolic rematch of Nandigram, where Adhikari defeated Banerjee, his once political mentor, in 2021 after quitting the TMC and joining the BJP.