Bengal, March 9: Smriti Irani and Mithun Chakraborty are likely to accompany Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Suvendu Adhikari as he files his nomination papers from the Nandigram Assembly seat for the upcoming West Bengal Assembly election on 12 March.
Smriti Irani to arrive in Bengal on 11 March to campaign in Haldia where Suvendu will be present as well.
Actor Mithun Chakraborty, who joined the BJP at the Brigade Parade Ground on Sunday, is also slated to begin his political campaigning for the party from March 12.
Notably, the Nandigram assembly constituency is set to be one of the most closely-observed political battlegrounds this year, as Adhikari is pitted against the chief minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo Mamata Banerjee herself.
While releasing its first list of 57 poll candidates yesterday, the BJP had put an end to all speculations, and made it abundantly clear that the party was fielding Suvendu Adhikari – once a close aide of the TMC supremo – from his home turf Nandigram, in a direct contest against the chief minister.
Also Read: TMC releases the first list of 291 candidates for Bengal polls, CM Mamata to contest from Nandigram
Two days ago, Mamata Banerjee announced her candidature from the seat. Nandigram is the site of protests against the Left government which ignited a popular upsurge and catapulted the TMC to power in 2011.
Adhikari, who won the seat in 2016, quit the TMC in December last year and crossed over to the BJP. Banerjee relinquished her traditional seat Bhowanipore this time to cross swords with her former protege.
