Mamata Banerjee, West Bengal chief minister and Trinamool
Congress (TMC) supremo, will have her political fate decided in the Bhabanipur by-elections on Thursday. For Banerjee, this is a critical election as this is her
chance to enter the state assembly before the end of the six-month period of
being chief minister without being an elected MLA. Former Mamata, remaining chief
minister of West Bengal depends on the outcome of the polls. Polling began in Bhabanipur at
around 7 am Thursday. The votes will be counted on October 3.

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The Bhabanipur by-elections were necessitated after party leader Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay resigned from the post after winning the assembly elections to make
space for Mamata Banerjee to contest from the constituency which is largely
considered her home turf.

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During the assembly elections in West Bengal earlier this year,
Mamata Banerjee had had to leave her comfort constituency of Bhabanipur to go
fight elections in Nandigram against her protégé who later jumped ship to the
BJP — Suvendu Adhikari. While Trinamool won the elections by a landslide, Mamata
Banerjee lost to Suvendu Adhikari by a wafer-thin margin.

Banerjee, who is chalking out plans to have a greater role in
national politics by consolidating the opposition against BJP, said earlier
that being elected from her home seat in Bhabanipur was her destiny, according
to a PTI report.

“My victory is necessary to continue as chief minister as it is
only me who will fight against CAA, NRC, demonetisation and the anti-people
policies of BJP,” Mamata said.

Despite Bhabanipur being her home constituency and having won
two prior elections from here, the by-polls may not be a cakewalk for Mamata
Banerjee, political observers say. The BJP has put up 41-year-old Priyanka Tibrewal
to take on Banerjee. Tibrewal, who lost the 2021 elections as well as the 2015
municipal polls, has emerged as a high-profile figure in Bengal politics after
she became one of the petitioners in the post-poll violence case against the
state government. The CPI(M) has fielded lawyer Srijeeb Biswas.