Yogi Adityanath to up ante against ‘Didi’ in West Bengal today

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will campaign in West Bengal on Tuesday, where he is likely to up the ante against the Trinamool Congress govt over Sandeshkhali issue.

He will address three rallies, one each in Asansol, Birbhum and Berhampore. Later this week, he is scheduled to travel to Maharashtra where he will address public meetings in Solapur, Sangli and Kolhapur.
Berhampore, from where the CM will kick off the West Bengal campaign, is witnessing a high-voltage election between Congress and TMC. Five-time MP and Congress West Bengal president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury is up against TMC’s surprise pick, cricketer Yusuf Pathan, and BJP’s Nirmal Chandra Saha, a doctor.

In Birbhum, BJP’s original candidate, former IPS officer Debashish Dhar, had his nomination papers cancelled two days ago. On Tuesday, Dhar challenged the decision in the Supreme Court. As of now, Debtanu Bhattacharya will officially represent BJP in the election. Satabdi Roy, a three-term MP from this seat, is contesting from TMC.

Asansol is also witnessing a high-profile contest with TMC having fielded actor Shatrughan Sinha from this seat. BJP has fielded Surendrajeet Singh Ahluwalia, who currently represents the Bardhaman-Durgapur Lok Sabha constituency in West Bengal. He replaced Bhojpuri singer Pawan Singh, who withdrew his name. The seat was held by Babul Supriyo from 2014 to 2022, after which he resigned and joined TMC. Sinha won this seat in the by-elections.

In Maharashtra, Yogi will address a public meeting in Solapur where the sitting MP from BJP has been replaced by Malshiras MLARam Vitthal Satpute. He is up against three-time Congress MLA from Solapur city, Praniti Shinde, daughter of former Union minister Sushilkumar Shinde. The CM will also address a rally in Sangli, where BJP’s Sanjaykaka Patil is seeking his third term, and in Kolhapur, he will hold a public meeting in support of Shiv Sena-Eknath Shinde faction.

Till the end of phase two, the CM had addressed 19 rallies and roadshows in Maharashtra, J&K, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Bihar, and Chhattisgarh. These included a rally in Nagpur in support of Union minister Nitin Gadkari, and a maximum of six programmes in Rajasthan.