West Bengal Assembly election 2021: The importance of Nandigram seat Mamata Banerjee is contesting

Nandigram is an Assembly/Vidhan Sabha constituency in the Purba Medinipur district of West Bengal. It falls under the Tamluk Lok Sabha constituency.In the 2016 West Bengal Assembly election, the constituency had a total of 2,01,659 registered voters.As per the orders of the Delimitation Commission, Nandigram constituency is composed of - Nandigram I and Nandigram II community development blocks.Voter turnout in previous electionThe voter turnout in Nandigram in the previous Assembly election was 86.97 percent.Past election results and winnersIn the 2016 Assembly polls, Suvendu Adhikari was declared the winner from the Nandigram seat on a All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) ticket. He secured 1,34,623 votes as against 53,393 votes won by Abdul Kabir Sekh of the Communist Party of India (CPI).This year, however, the state saw an electoral battle between TMC turncoat Adikhari and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in this constituency.

Nandigram — the cradle of the anti-land acquisition movement that catapulted Mamata to power in 2011, will witness her once protege Adhikari taking on her on 1 April as a BJP candidate.

In 2011 as well, the TMC retained the seat. The ruling party had then fielded Phiroja Bibi against Paramananda Bharati of the Communist Party of India (CPI). Bharati lost the electoral battle by a margin 43,640 votes or 25.42 percent.On 26 February, the Election Commission announced the schedule for Assembly polls in Tamil Nadu, Assam, Kerala, West Bengal and Puducherry.The voting began on 27 March, with Bengal having the maximum eight phases continuing till 29 April, the poll body had said.The election was held to elect a total of 294 Members of Legislative Assembly (MLAs).The state is held by the AITC with an absolute majority, with Mamata Banerjee on her second consecutive term as chief minister. The ruling party is fighting a pitched battle with archrival BJP, while the Congress-led alliance is also a key player in the fray.