By Admin 
Trinamool Congress (TMC) has released the list of 291 candidates for the West Bengal Assembly elections. BJP’s Subhendu Adhikari will contest against Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee from Bhawanipur seat. Since the last assembly elections, BJP has adopted the strategy of challenging Mamata Banerjee in her stronghold, in which the party has also been successful. TMC has also made the same strategy this time against Leader of Opposition in Bengal Assembly, Subhendu Adhikari. From Nandigram seat, TMC has intensified the political stir by giving ticket to former BJP leader and close associate of Shubhendu Adhikari, Pabitra Kar.
Protégé’s challenge in front of Shubhendu Adhikari
In Nandigram assembly, Pabitra Kar had worked at the grassroots level for Shubhendu Adhikari in the last assembly elections, as a result of which CM Mamata Banerjee had to face defeat from there. Pabitra Kar joined TMC on Tuesday (17 March 2026). TMC said that Pavitra Kar has taken this decision being angry with the anti-people policies of BJP. The political journey of sacred tax has been quite interesting. He has been a part of Trinamool Congress before also.
Played important responsibility in Shubhendu Adhikari’s victory
In 2018, Pabitra Kar was the pradhan (head) of two villages in the Boyal area and had a strong support base in the area. However, before the 2021 assembly elections, he had switched sides to BJP along with Shubhendu Adhikari. He is considered important in giving rise to BJP in this area in the last assembly. In the 2021 elections, Shubhendu Adhikari defeated Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Nandigram seat by a slight margin of about 1,900 votes. After this, in 2023, Pabitra Kar’s wife won the election on BJP ticket and took over the post of head of two gram panchayats of Boyal area.
Pavitra Kar has a strong support base in Nandigram.
Talking about Nandigram assembly constituency, there are two blocks here, out of which BJP’s position in Nandigram-2 block is considered relatively strong. Pavitra Kar is a resident of this block and is a well-known face in the area. Despite being in Trinamool, Pavitra Kar has had a good hold and popularity in the area. In such a situation, giving him ticket from Nandigram is being considered an important development in local politics. This seat may once again see a close contest between BJP and TMC.
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