TMC LEADER NEEDS TO GET RE-ELECTED TO THE ASSEMBLY WITHIN SIX MONTHS TO HOLD ON CHIEF MINISTER’S CHAIR
After sitting MLA Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay resigned from the Assembly on Friday, West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) chairperson Mamata Banerjee is expected to contest a by-election from the Bhabanipur constituency.
Chattopadhyay, the minister of agriculture, submitted his resignation to Assembly Speaker Biman Bandyopadhyay in his chamber in the presence of party leader and industries minister Partha Chatterjee, and others.
Speaker Biman Bandyopadhyay has accepted the resignation saying that “I have enquired from him if he has resigned voluntarily and without coercion. I am satisfied, and I have accepted his resignation.”
The Assembly polls results that were announced on May 2, 2021, marked the victory of Trinamool Congress with 213 seats, opening the way for Mamta Banerjee’s third consecutive term as Chief Minister of West Bengal. In this election, she vacated her traditional Bhabanipur seat and contested the election from the Purba Medinipur district’s Nandigram seat against BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari. Despite her party’s overwhelming victory, Banerjee lost to Adhikari by a close margin of 1,956 votes. Now, she needs to get re-elected to the Assembly within six months to hold on to her post and is likely to do this from her traditional Bhabanipur seat.
Banerjee did not run for election in 2011 when the TMC ended the Left Front's three-decade reign. She secured a by-election in Bhabanipur to hold her chair. In the 2016 state elections, she retained the seat.