CM Suvendu Adhikari sets Falta-style landslide victory target in Nandigram bypoll

West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari has set a target for the BJP to win the Nandigram bypoll with a similar margin to their recent landslide victory in the Falta Assembly repoll.

Bouyed by the BJP's emphatic win in the Falta Assembly repoll, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Sunday set a similar victory target for his party in a bypoll to the Nandigram seat he resigned from as MLA after choosing to retain the Bhabanipur constituency.

In his first visit to Nandigram as chief minister, where he served as a three-term MLA and called home, Adhikari reassured his supporters that despite vacating the seat, he remained firmly rooted in his political home turf.

Addressing a packed felicitation rally, he asked his supporters if they could replicate in Nandigram a victory margin similar to Falta, where the BJP won by more than one lakh votes.

''Can you give us a Falta-like margin in Nandigram too?'' he asked, triggering loud cheers from his supporters.

His remarks came hours after the BJP's landslide victory in Falta that further strengthened the party's post-election quest to consolidate power after ending the Trinamool Congress's 15-year rule in Bengal earlier this month.

Polling 1,49,666 votes, the BJP's Debangshu Panda defeated his nearest rival, the CPI(M)'s Sambhu Nath Kurmi, by a margin of 1,09,021 votes. Kurmi secured 40,645 votes while the Congress' Abdur Razzak Molla finished third with 10,084 votes.

TMC's Jahangir Khan, once among the most talked-about faces of the Falta campaign, slipped to fourth place with just 7,783 votes and forfeited his deposit.

Adhikari, who contested and won both Nandigram and Bhabanipur in the 2026 assembly elections, later vacated Nandigram in compliance with constitutional provisions requiring legislators to retain only one seat.

His decision paved the way for a bypoll in the constituency.

At the rally in Nandigram on Sunday, Adhikari sought to allay concerns among supporters over his exit as MLA, repeatedly emphasising that giving up the seat would not weaken his association with the area.

''I left one seat only because the Constitution requires it. But don't think I have moved away from you. Your Suvendu is with you and will remain with you,'' he told the gathering.

Calling Nandigram his ''home'' and the cradle of his political rise, the chief minister said the bond forged through years of struggle since 2003 would continue unchanged despite his shift to Bhabanipur.

The BJP leader also sought to project confidence about the party's growing electoral strength in East Midnapore district, claiming that the BJP secured 56 per cent of the votes across all 16 assembly seats in the district during the recent election.

He urged party workers to now target 65 per cent support for Prime Minister Narendra Modi in future elections.

Adhikari also formally unveiled the BJP's organisational blueprint for the bypoll, assigning his younger brother and Kanthi MP Soumendu Adhikari a key role in spearheading preparations.

A five-member committee comprising MLAs Arup Kumar Das, Shantanu Pramanik, Chandrashekhar Mondal, Nirmal Kharra and Tapan Maity will assist him.

Adhikari also referred to allegations of post-poll violence and attacks on BJP workers after the 2021 elections, saying party workers should not take the law into their own hands despite grievances.

''You may feel angry, but the BJP does not function like that. I remember everything. Nothing has been forgotten. Everything will be accounted for,'' he said.

His remarks appeared aimed at balancing political messaging with restraint, amid BJP claims that some of its workers had faced attacks in the aftermath of previous elections.