Bengal polls: BJP show strength at Suvendu Adhikari's nomination; face-off with TMC workers near CM Mamata Banerjee's home

KOLKATA: With chants of “Jai Shri Ram” and “BJP Zindabad” echoing through the lanes of Bhabanipur, the BJP on Thursday turned Suvendu Adhikari’s nomination filing into a saffron display of strength in a constituency long considered chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s political stronghold.Adhikari was accompanied by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, state party president Samik Bhattacharya, and other leaders. Standing atop an open-hood, flower-decked truck adorned with giant BJP cut-outs and lotus symbols, Shah waved to cheering supporters as the convoy moved out from Hazra Crossing, amid tight security and showers of flower petals from terraces and balconies.If Bhabanipur is Mamata Banerjee's backyard, the BJP on Thursday sought to breach it with drums, slogans and a direct political challenge."Today, I have come especially for Suvendu Adhikari's nomination," Shah told a gathering at Hazra crossing before the roadshow began.Moments later, Shah and Adhikari climbed onto the specially decorated vehicle and began a procession through Bhabanipur.As the convoy moved along the constituency’s streets, saffron flags fluttered from lamp posts and rooftops, while supporters lined both sides of the road—some chanting “Ebar Banglay BJP”, others raising slogans of “Mamata Hatao, Bangla Bachao.”The loudest cheers, however, were reserved for Shah and Adhikari.Also on the vehicle with them were BJP state president Samik Bhattacharya, Rashbehari assembly candidate Swapan Dasgupta, and Chowringhee nominee Santosh Pathak, highlighting the party’s effort to make Bhabanipur the focal point of its south Kolkata campaign.For the BJP, the optics were unmistakable.As the convoy neared Kalighat, just a few hundred metres from Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s residence, Trinamool Congress workers and supporters gathered along the roadside, waving green-and-white flags and chanting slogans of “Joy Bangla” and “Mamata Banerjee Zindabad.”Tension escalated when the BJP roadshow and the TMC protest came face to face near Kalighat. For several minutes, supporters from both camps stood only metres apart, exchanging loud slogans.A thick cordon of police personnel formed a human barrier to prevent a clash, pushing back supporters on either side of the road. The standoff brought traffic to a halt and heightened the atmosphere of tension before the BJP convoy moved on.The sight of saffron flags confronting green-and-white banners across a line of police captured the sharp political polarisation now defining Bhabanipur and much of Bengal politics.(With agency inputs)