Bengal bypolls throw up twist after twist

The game of politics continues in West Bengal, but this time the ball first hit the goalpost of the All India Trinamool Congress but the TMC seems to have deflected it.

A day after Sanchita Dey Pradhan, the candidate of the Mamata Banerjee-led faction, withdrew her nomination from the Nandigram bypoll after meeting Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, the Rejinagar candidate, Rabiul Alam Chowdhury, announced that he was withdrawing his nomination on Saturday. But after meeting top leaders of Mamata-led TMC, he took another U-turn and said that he would not withdraw.

His earlier decision, if followed, would have led to a situation where two constituencies—Nandigram and Rejinagar—would have gone to polls without a candidate from the Mamata-led faction of the TMC. This was something unusual for a party that has dominated Bengal politics for years.

Chowdhury, speaking to the media in the morning, said there was pressure from the administration on his cadre and that his workers were also unwilling to campaign for him on the new symbol. He did not elaborate on the nature of the alleged pressure. Mamata Banerjee and Congress leaders, however, alleged that the BJP government in the state was using intimidation and misusing the police. Chowdhury said several of his workers had been arrested and that he took the decision to withdraw after discussing the matter with Mamata Banerjee. The BJP denied the allegations.

The writing was perhaps already on the wall because Mamata herself had hinted at a possible withdrawal of the candidate from Rejinagar on Friday.

Polling in both Nandigram and Rejinagar is scheduled for October 6, with counting on October 9. In Rejinagar, the bypoll was necessitated after AJUP leader Humayun Kabir, elected from both Rejinagar and Naoda in the Assembly elections earlier this year, chose to retain the Naoda seat. His son, Golam Nabi Azad, is the AJUP candidate in the by-election.

Amidst this game of political football, Mamata who is not one to walk away from a political battle, has moved the Supreme Court, challenging the Election Commission’s decision to freeze the Trinamool Congress’ name and party symbol amid a dispute between two rival factions of the party.

In her plea before the apex court, Banerjee has named the Election Commission and Ritabrata Banerjee, Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, as respondents. On Friday, she made it clear that she would not accept the interim arrangement and vowed to fight to regain the party’s original name and symbol.

This is not the first time Mamata has taken her political battle personally to the Supreme Court. On February 4, 2026, she appeared before a Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and personally made submissions against the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal. She argued that the process could result in genuine voters being wrongly deleted.

The Bengal political battle, therefore, is moving simultaneously on several fronts—on the streets, in the electoral arena and in the courts.

Meanwhile, the Congress continues to believe that if the INDIA bloc can put up one candidate in each constituency in the 2029 Lok Sabha elections, it can make India “BJP-mukt”. The BJP, predictably, dismissed the claim as daydreaming.

AICC general secretary K C Venugopal on Saturday said that despite what he described as intimidation, including the arrest of Milan Pradhan, the Congress candidate from Nandigram, his party would not withdraw its candidate and would raise the arrest as a national issue.

Pradhan was arrested in connection with an old case dating back to 2007, when the Left parties were in power. He has more than a dozen cases linked to the Nandigram land movement. His arrest came hours after Mamata Banerjee announced her support for the Congress candidate.

Venugopal alleged that when Congress leaders went to the police station to inquire about the arrest, they were told that there was no real case and that Pradhan was being held temporarily.

He further alleged that the police were pressuring Pradhan to withdraw from the contest by offering to drop cases against him and provide other facilities. The allegations have been denied by the BJP.

With the last day for withdrawals ending on Saturday, the developments in Nandigram and Rejinagar have certainly added another twist to Bengal’s already complicated political script.

For Mamata Banerjee, the immediate challenge is not merely about two bypolls. It is about retaining control of the political narrative while fighting battles over the party’s name and symbol, electoral rolls and the larger opposition strategy in Bengal. And in Bengal politics, the next move is rarely the last one.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Gowri V

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A Journey of Three Decades Time passes faster than we realise. What feels like a journey that began only yesterday has today grown into more than three decades of a meaningful and fulfilling life devoted to education, journalism, and the empowerment of young minds. My professional journey began with journalism training in New Delhi in 1979. I went on to work as an independent journalist, drawing on my fluency in both English and Telugu. Over the years, I have edited and worked on Telugu articles in both languages, an experience that strengthened my command of language and sharpened my understanding of society, people, and contemporary issues. Yet, my principal profession and enduring passion have always been teaching. My decision to become a teacher was not merely a career choice—it was a calling. Teaching offered me the rare privilege of inspiring young minds, guiding them through their formative years, and making a lasting difference in their lives. I found immense satisfaction in simplifying complex concepts, nurturing curiosity, encouraging independent thought, and building confidence among students. Every moment in the classroom—every question, every moment of discovery, and every spark of understanding—reminded me why I had chosen this path: to empower young people through knowledge, values, and essential life skills. My teaching career began at the grassroots level as a Montessori teacher and gradually progressed to the position of Vice Principal. I had the opportunity to work in reputed educational institutions, including Dilsukhnagar Public School in Hyderabad, where I shouldered both teaching and administrative responsibilities. Although I have always considered myself, at heart, a teacher, my administrative experience enabled me to understand and contribute to the education system from a much broader perspective. For my students, I have always tried to be an approachable and dependable presence—someone they could turn to not only for academic support, but also for guidance and emotional encouragement. At the same time, I developed a reputation as a firm disciplinarian who believed that integrity, fairness, responsibility, and discipline were fundamental to education. I was also consistently appreciated for maintaining clear communication with parents and staff and for ensuring that examinations and other academic processes were conducted with transparency, fairness, and efficiency. As my career progressed, however, I began to feel that academic education alone was not enough. This realization led me to work more closely with students following the SSC and CBSE curricula, while consciously bringing life-skills education into my teaching. I came to understand that education becomes truly meaningful when it prepares children not merely to pass examinations, but to face life. Teaching emotional resilience, self-reliance, social awareness, communication, decision-making, and other practical life skills often had a deeper and more lasting impact than academic achievement alone. I saw how these skills could help students navigate challenges with greater confidence, maturity, and responsibility. My academic background provided a strong foundation for this approach. My degree in Psychology from the University of Madras helped me develop a deeper understanding of young people's minds, their emotional needs, and the influence of their family and social environments. My M.A. in Telugu with First Class from Osmania University.

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