The BJP on Tuesday named Hasirani Rath, the mother of former aide to West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari who died in May, as its candidate for Nandigram bypoll, and fielded the party’s former Murshidabad district president Sakharav Sarkar from Rejinagar assembly seat.
The two constituencies are witnessing a multi-cornered contest, with the BJP entering the fray after the Congress, the Left and the two rival TMC factions announced their candidates. Hasirani Rath’s candidature had been the subject of speculation in Nandigram, and she appeared to confirm it earlier on Tuesday by offering prayers at the Siddheshwar Shiv Temple and Jankinath Temple there before the BJP formally announced her name.
Accompanied by a large procession of party workers and supporters, she is scheduled to file her nomination in Haldia later in the day. Adhikari is also expected to attend the programme. Hasirani Rath is not a political novice.
The BJP nominee said she has been active in politics since 1998 and has served twice as a panchayat member and three times as a panchayat samiti member. After offering prayers at the temples on Tuesday, the BJP candidate said she was happy to have been chosen by the party and expressed confidence of winning the Nandigram assembly seat by a margin of 1.10 lakh votes. Earlier reporting noted: BJP fields mother of CM Suvendu Adhikari’s slain PA as October 6 by-poll candidate The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has fielded the mother of West Bengal chief minister Suvendu Adhikari’s slain personal assistant (PA) as its candidate for the October 6 by-poll to the Nandigram assembly seat. Earlier reporting noted: Chandranath Rath , the PA, was shot dead three days before Adhikari took the oath as the chief minister on May 6, after the BJP swept to power in West Bengal for the first time, ending Trinamool Congress (TMC)’s 15-year rule.
“Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari is the guardian of our family,” she had said, adding that she would discharge any responsibility entrusted to her by the party with sincerity. Earlier reporting noted: A BJP leader said Hasirani Rath has been fielded from Nandigram and Sakharav Sarkar from Rejinagar.
