Will contest from 'any seat' party decides, BJP need not speculate: Abhishek

PTI, DIAMOND HARBOUR, DEC 1 2025: Senior TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee on Monday dismissed BJP-triggered speculation over his possible candidature from Nandigram, saying he would contest from "any seat", including Nandigram or Darjeeling, if the party decides, adding that the BJP need not worry about it. 

At an event at Maheshtala in his Diamond Harbour Lok Sabha constituency in West Bengal, the TMC national general secretary dismissed the debate as a "manufactured flutter", turning the spotlight back on internal party discipline. 

"I will work as my party instructs. If the party asks me to contest from Nandigram, I will do that. If the party asks me to contest from Darjeeling, I will do that as well. I am saying this on record," he said. Sharpening the tone, the MP added: "It may be Sukanta Majumdar's inner wish. Trinamool will take its internal decisions. The BJP does not have to think about where I will contest or not." 

Majumdar, the Union Minister of State for Education, on Sunday claimed he had "information" that Banerjee was preparing to contest from Nandigram and was "posting loyal officers" in the district as groundwork. 

"He is very keen to become the Deputy CM, and contesting from Nandigram is part of that plan," the Balurghat MP said, before backtracking with a carefully worded line: "Wherever Mamata Banerjee contests, we will defeat her." 

But the comment had already ignited a storm in Bengal where even an offhand remark around Nandigram can reorder the political temperature. On Monday, Banerjee seized that cue. 

"Wherever and however the party wants to utilise me, I will work accordingly," he said. Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, who has built his post-2021 political identity around his dramatic win in Nandigram over Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, jumped in almost instantly.