Mamata to launch poll campaign from Bhowanipore today; Abhishek to kick off campaign from March 23

Kolkata: Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo Mamata Banerjee is set to launch her election campaign from her own Constituency, Bhowanipore, on Sunday, and then carry out a campaign in North Bengal from Tuesday. Her party’s national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee will also kick off campaigns separately in South Bengal from March 23 for the upcoming Assembly elections. Mamata will attend a meeting with her party activists at Ahindra Auditorium in the Chetla area as a first preparatory move to take stock of the electoral situation in her Assembly Constituency. Senior leaders like Subrata Bakshi, the state president of the party, Debashis Kumar, south Kolkata district president, the city’s mayor Firhad Hakim, and seven party councillors from Bhabanipur, will attend the meeting. Trinamool Congress MP Mala Roy, during the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, had trailed behind the BJP in five municipal wards 63,70,71,72 and 73 in Bhowanipore.

The names of more than 47,000 voters have been deleted from the list in Bhowanipore following the SIR exercise. It was learnt from sources that the local councillors, along with party workers, will reach out to electors in booths, highlighting success stories related to different development and social security schemes under the Trinamool Congress-led government. On Saturday, while unveiling her party manifesto for the assembly polls, Mamata said she would kick off campaigns after Eid. Bhowanipore will go for a vote on April 29. Over 14,000 electors belonging to ‘under adjudication’ are awaiting clearance from the judicial officers to exercise their voting rights in her constituency. Mamata, on March 24, will hold a rally at Alipurduar parade ground. On the same day, she is expected to hold two more rallies each at Matigara and Moynaguri. Abhishek, on the other hand, will hold a public rally at South 24-Parganas’ Patharpratima on March 24. He is expected to hold a meeting with party workers in Nandigram on March 25. The workers’ meeting in Nandigram will be his first internal meeting since the poll schedule was announced. Sources close to Abhishek said he will hold three public meetings in West Midnapore’s Daspur, Keshiary and Narayangarh before heading for Nandigram.