Targeted strategy: ‘Abhishek to hold meet with Nandigram party leaders’

Kolkata: Trinamool Congress (TMC) national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee is likely to soon convene a separate meeting with the leadership of Nandigram, signalling the constituency’s special importance in the run-up to the 2026 Assembly elections.

Sources said the announcement was made last Tuesday at the party’s Camac Street office in Kolkata, where Banerjee held a review meeting with leaders of the Tamluk organisational district. While these reviews are being conducted district by district across the state, he is learnt to have clarified that Nandigram would be treated differently and called for a dedicated session.

Even as Banerjee did not reveal the date or framework of the session, party insiders say the unusual step underscores TMC’s determination to reclaim Nandigram from the Adhikari family’s grip. The decision assumes added significance because in the 2021 Assembly elections, TMC supremo and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had contested from Nandigram Assembly Constituency but was defeated by BJP leader and current Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari.

That loss was one of the most high-profile apparent setbacks for the ruling party, and Mamata has since repeatedly alleged electoral malpractice. During the 2024 Lok Sabha campaign, she declared that the “betrayal in Nandigram” would not go unanswered.

By singling out the constituency for a separate review, Abhishek Banerjee is expected to lay the groundwork for a more targeted strategy.

TMC sources privy to the Camac Street meeting confirmed that Abhishek told the party leaders he would call Nandigram’s leadership for a separate session, though he gave no further explanation for the special emphasis.

Political observers noted that this is the first time Abhishek has announced a separate meeting for a single Assembly seat, breaking from his usual district-wide reviews.

The step has sparked speculation that a tailored political plan for Nandigram

is in the works.

As the TMC intensifies its organisational push ahead of 2026, Abhishek’s declaration makes clear that Nandigram will not just be part of the wider campaign—it will stand at the centre of the party’s effort to reclaim lost ground.