The BJP has announced its candidates for the by-elections to the Rejinagar and Nandigram Assembly seats in West Bengal. The party has nominated Shashwar Sarkar from Rejinagar and Hasirani Rath from Nandigram.
Hasirani Rath is the mother of Chandranath Rath, CM Suvendu Adhikari’s personal assistant. Two days after the results of the Bengal Assembly elections, Chandranath, 42, was shot dead in Madhyamgram, North 24 Parganas, on 6 May.
Hasirani Rath files nomination in Haldia
Hasirani Rath, mother of slain Chandranath Rath, who served as West Bengal CM Suvendu Adhikari’s personal assistant, filed her nomination at the Office of the Sub-Divisional Officer in Haldia, Purba Medinipur. CM Suvendu Adhikari was also present.
“All opposition candidates will lose their deposits,” says Suvendu Adhikari
Speaking in Haldia, West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari said all Opposition candidates, from the CPI(M), Congress, Kalighat Trinamool Congress, and the Rittabrata Banerjee faction, would lose their security deposits in the Nandigram bypoll.
You are filing nominations, but remember, if you do not get 16% of the votes, your security deposit will not be returned. All of you will lose your deposits,
Adhikari said.
He added,
I will vote, and I can assure you that the BJP’s winning margin will be so huge that you will never have imagined it
TMC’s two factions also face off in Nandigram
TMC’s two factions are also pitted against each other in the by-election. The rebel TMC faction led by Ritabrata Banerjee has fielded Mohammad Eteshamul Haque from Nandigram and Safiuzzaman Sheikh from Rezinagar.
Meanwhile, Mamata Banerjee’s faction has fielded Sanchita Pradhan Dey from Nandigram and former MLA Rabiul Alam Chowdhury from Rezinagar.
Both factions claim to be the “real” TMC and are staking a claim to the “twin flowers and grass” election symbol. The Election Commission has sought additional documents from both sides and asked them to respond by 16 September.
If the Commission does not reach a decision before the election, the party’s current election symbol may be temporarily frozen, and both factions may have to contest under separate names and symbols.
Nandigram — a crucial seat for both TMC and BJP
Nandigram has long been a key battleground in the political contest between TMC and BJP. The 2007 anti-land-acquisition movement in this region played a major role in bringing Mamata Banerjee and TMC to power in 2011.
In 2021, Mamata contested from here against Bengal’s current CM, Suvendu Adhikari, but lost. After joining the BJP, Adhikari became TMC’s biggest rival.
In the 2026 assembly elections, Suvendu Adhikari contested from both Nandigram and the Bhawanipur seat, winning both. In Bhawanipur, he defeated Mamata Banerjee by 15,105 votes — Adhikari secured 73,917 votes, while Mamata Banerjee received 58,812 votes.
Adhikari later retained the Bhawanipur seat and resigned from Nandigram, leaving the seat vacant.
2 seats in Tamil Nadu: Madurantakam and Dharapuram — Both these assembly seats fell vacant after the resignations of Maragatham Kumaravel and P. Sathyabama. The final voter list for both seats was released on 23 February.
Puducherry’s Thattanchavady seat: This seat fell vacant after N. Rangasamy’s resignation. The seat’s voter list was published on 14 February.
West Bengal’s Rezinagar-Nandigram seats: The Rezinagar seat fell vacant after Humayun Kabir’s resignation, and the Nandigram seat after Suvendu Adhikari’s resignation. The final voter list for these seats was released on 28 February.
Assam’s Nagaon Lok Sabha seat: Assam’s Nagaon Lok Sabha seat fell vacant after Pradyut Bordoloi’s resignation. The final voter list for this seat was released on 10 February.
