Mamata Banerjee’s camp has suffered another dramatic setback in Nandigram, with its candidate Sanchita Pradhan Dey withdrawing from the October 6 Assembly bypoll. The development came soon after Dey met West Bengal Chief Minister and BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari, adding another layer of intrigue to a constituency already loaded with political significance for the two leaders. The withdrawal also came amid the Election Commission’s decision to temporarily bar both rival TMC factions from using the party’s traditional name and “Flowers and Grass” symbol.
The Nandigram bypoll has taken an unexpected turn after Sanchita Pradhan Dey, the candidate fielded by the faction led by Mamata Banerjee, withdrew her candidature. The decision came just a day after the Election Commission froze the use of the “All India Trinamool Congress” name and its traditional “Flowers and Grass” symbol amid an internal dispute between rival factions.
The development is particularly significant because Nandigram is not an ordinary Assembly constituency for Mamata Banerjee. It was here that she contested against her former close aide Suvendu Adhikari in the 2021 West Bengal Assembly election. Adhikari, who had left the Trinamool Congress and joined the BJP, defeated Banerjee in that contest.
Five years later, the constituency once again became the focus of intense speculation when Banerjee’s faction decided to field Sanchita Pradhan Dey. Dey, a teacher from Nandigram, had herself lost her job following the cancellation of thousands of teaching appointments in connection with the recruitment controversy. Her relatively low-profile political background had prompted questions over the strategy behind her selection.
The latest twist came after Dey reportedly met Suvendu Adhikari at the state secretariat in Kolkata. According to reports, the meeting took place on Thursday, shortly before her withdrawal was announced. A photograph purportedly showing the two together also surfaced, although reports noted that the circumstances and significance of the meeting remained unclear.
Dey subsequently withdrew from the contest on Friday, leaving the Mamata-led faction without a candidate in Nandigram. The timing was especially striking as the Election Commission had, earlier the same day, allotted a new identity to Banerjee’s faction for the bypolls. The group was given the name “Mamata All India Trinamool Congress” and the symbol of a football player. The rival faction was allotted the name “Democratic Trinamool Congress” and an envelope symbol.
The withdrawal also forced an immediate change in Mamata Banerjee’s electoral strategy. During a press conference, Banerjee announced that her faction would support the Congress candidate in Nandigram rather than field another candidate. She also attacked the Election Commission’s decision over the party name and symbol and alleged political interference by the BJP, allegations that are part of the ongoing political dispute.
The Election Commission’s intervention has fundamentally altered the electoral landscape for the bypolls. For the first time since the Trinamool Congress was formed, the traditional party name and its familiar symbol will not be used by either faction in these contests. The commission had asked the rival groups to submit alternative names and free symbols while its broader decision on the party dispute remains pending.
For Nandigram, however, the immediate consequence is even more striking. A seat that once represented one of the defining contests of Bengal politics has now witnessed the withdrawal of the candidate representing Mamata Banerjee’s faction, followed by an announcement of support for Congress.
The sequence—from the freezing of the TMC identity to the allocation of new symbols, the meeting between Dey and Adhikari and finally Dey’s withdrawal—has turned the Nandigram bypoll into one of the most closely watched contests in the state. What prompted the candidate to step aside remains a subject of speculation, while the political consequences will become clearer as campaigning gathers pace.
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