Don't waste money by fielding candidate in Bhabanipur: TMC tells BJP

Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], September 5 (ANI): Taking a dig at Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Madan Mitra on Sunday said BJP should not waste money by fielding a candidate in Bhabanipur Assembly by-elections.
Speaking to ANI, Mitra said, "West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will contest the Assembly bypoll from Bhabanipur. Do not waste your (BJP's) money by fielding your candidates in Bhabanipur Assembly by-elections. This election will be totally one-sided."
Meanwhile, the TMC on Sunday announced that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will contest from the Bhabanipur assembly constituency. Further, TMC leaders Jakir Hossain and Amirul Islam will be the party's candidates from Jangipur and Samserganj seats respectively.
On Saturday, the Election Commission has announced to hold by-elections to three assembly seats in West Bengal on September 30. These constituencies include Bhabanipur, the traditional seat of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, from where she will contest the by-elections. Besides Bhabanipur, by-polls will be held in Samserganj and Jangipur constituencies. The counting of votes will take place on October 3.
Notably, Mamata Banerjee was defeated by BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari in the Nandigram assembly constituency.
Following this, the Bhabanipur assembly seat was vacated by West Bengal Agriculture Minister Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay in May, making way for West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to contest from the seat. The election on the seat is crucial for Banerjee to win if she has to remain the chief minister of the state.
The Mamata Banerjee-led TMC registered a landslide victory in polls winning 213 seats in the 294-member West Bengal assembly. Despite aggressive campaigning, the BJP lost the polls but emerged as the second-largest party with 77 seats. (ANI)