West Bengal chief minister Suvendu Adhikari on Wednesday officially took oath as the MLA from Bhabanipur, confirming that the politically significant Nandigram constituency will now head to a by-election. The development comes days after the Bharatiya Janata Party’s sweeping victory in the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections, where the party secured 207 seats in the 294-member assembly. Adhikari, who defeated former chief minister Mamata Banerjee from Bhabanipur, said he was following the party’s decision to retain the Kolkata seat while vacating Nandigram. The BJP leader assured voters that the promises made during the campaign in Nandigram would continue to be fulfilled despite the upcoming bypoll.
Adhikari Says Nandigram Will Continue To Receive Attention
“I had to follow my party’s decision. Someone else will be elected from Nandigram, but I promise that over the next five years, I will not let the people there feel even once that I am not their MLA. All promises made during the campaign will be kept,” Adhikari said.
The chief minister is expected to visit Bhabanipur later in the evening. In recent days, he made multiple visits to Nandigram to thank supporters after the BJP’s decisive mandate against the Trinamool Congress, which managed to win only 80 seats in the election.
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Bhabanipur Victory Revives 2021 Political Rivalry
Adhikari defeated Mamata Banerjee in the April 29 election by a margin of more than 15,000 votes, marking one of the BJP’s biggest symbolic victories in the state. The contest also revived memories of the 2021 Assembly election, when Adhikari had narrowly defeated Banerjee in Nandigram by around 2,000 votes.
That defeat had forced Banerjee to contest a by-election from Bhabanipur to continue as chief minister. Adhikari’s latest win from the same seat has added further political significance to the BJP’s return to power in the state.
Adhikari first won Nandigram in 2016 while serving as a Trinamool Congress Lok Sabha MP from Tamluk. He later resigned from Parliament to join the Bengal cabinet before eventually leaving the TMC in December 2020 to join the BJP ahead of the 2021 polls.
Humayun Kabir Wins Two Seats Under New Party Banner
In another major political development, Humayun Kabir registered victories from both the Nowda and Rejinagar assembly constituencies under his newly formed Aam Janata Unnayan Party. Kabir had earlier been suspended by the TMC after controversy erupted over the foundation stone ceremony of a mosque reportedly modeled after the Babri Masjid structure. “I will represent Nowda. The Election Commission will decide the date for the Rejinagar bypoll,” Kabir said.
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