Sources say Mamata Banerjee will contest from Bhawanipore in Kolkata to secure her post.

Kolkata:

Mamata Banerjee, who swept the Bengal election but lost her own contest in Nandigram, may return to the seat she gave up in favour of challenging her former aide Suvendu Adhikari in his stronghold. Sources say she will contest from Bhawanipore in Kolkata to secure her post.

The Trinamool MLA who won from Bhawanipore, Shobhandeb Chattopadhyay, is expected to resign from the Bengal assembly shortly to enable his party boss to contest from the seat.

Mamata Banerjee’s landslide victory in the Bengal election to win a third straight term was tempered by her own loss in Nandigram to the BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari, her former lieutenant, by a narrow margin.

To stay Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee has to contest by-polls and become a member of the state legislative assembly within six months.

Article 164 of the constitution says a minister who is not an MLA within six months has to resign.

Ms Banerjee had declared in January, weeks after Mr Adhikari quit the Trinamool, that she would contest from Nandigram instead of her own Bhawanipore.

“I will contest from Nandigram. Nandigram is my lucky place,” she had said and urged voters of Bhawanipore to understand her decision.

“Nandigram is my big sister, Bhawanipore is my younger sister…I will fight from both if possible. In case I am unable to contest from Bhawanipore, someone else will contest.”

During the campaign, several BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, taunted her about “contesting from a second seat” and questioned whether she was nervous about losing in Nandigram. Ms Banerjee strongly rebutted the comments.