Suvendu Adhikari appeals to Nandigram minorities ahead of October 6 bypoll

West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari has made a direct appeal to minority voters in Nandigram ahead of the October 6 Assembly bypoll, telling them they would not be compelled to chant “Jai Shri Ram” if they supported the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Speaking at a rally in Birulia Bazar on Friday, an area with a sizeable Muslim population, Adhikari urged minority voters to extend what he described as a “hand of friendship” to the BJP, saying they could instead say “Bharat Mata ki Jai”.

The appeal came as Adhikari campaigned for BJP candidate Hasirani Rath in the constituency he vacated after winning both Nandigram and Bhabanipur in the 2026 Assembly election. Voting is scheduled for October 6 and counting will take place on October 9.

‘We don’t force you to say Jai Shri Ram’

Adhikari said the October 6 election presented minority voters with an opportunity to establish a new political relationship with the BJP.

“This is the best time to extend your hand of friendship towards us. October 6 is an auspicious day. You won’t get a better opportunity to hold our hands as friends. Yes, we chant ‘Jai Shree Ram’, but we don’t force you to do it. You can choose not to and just say ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’,” PTI quoted him as saying.

He repeated the appeal at two other meetings in Nandigram.

At Debipur, Adhikari said he would be present in the constituency on counting day and asked minority voters to join hands with his government.

“Make friendship, we will walk together; you will also be a partner in the development work,” he said.

At another meeting in Narayanchak, he said minority voters had to decide whether they wanted to “make friendship” with him. He also pointed out that, according to him, they had not voted for him in the 2021 and 2026 Assembly elections.

Adhikari further highlighted government schemes such as PM Awaas and Annapurna Yojana, saying minorities in Nandigram were among their beneficiaries.

The outreach follows his earlier appeal to minority voters in the wider bypoll campaign, where he has framed October 6 as an opportunity for them to work with the state government.

Adhikari targets Mamata Banerjee-led TMC

Adhikari also attacked the Trinamool Congress and claimed that the party had “ceased to exist”, referring to the Election Commission's decision to allot different names and symbols to rival TMC factions contesting the bypolls.

The Nandigram contest has changed significantly after the Mamata Banerjee-led faction withdrew its candidate, Sanchita Pradhan Dey, and extended support to Congress candidate Milan Pradhan. A rival TMC faction led by Ritabrata Banerjee is continuing in the contest with Mohammad Eteshamul Haque. The BJP has fielded Hasirani Rath, while the Left has nominated CPI's Shantigopal Giri.

Against this backdrop, Adhikari said the TMC's traditional name and symbol had effectively disappeared from the state.

“When I went to collect the certificate of the winning candidate from Nandigram on May 4, I had said that there would be no name or symbol of the TMC. The aunt-nephew duo's dry grass and twin flower symbol no longer exist. The chhinnamool (rootless, an apparent wordplay on Trinamool) people tried hard on the EVMs. The people have driven Mamata Banerjee's party out,” he said.

He also claimed that the TMC had previously received substantial minority support in Nandigram but had effectively become non-existent following the split.

BJP candidate’s son was Adhikari’s aide

Adhikari was campaigning for Hasirani Rath, whose son Chandranath Rath was his former personal assistant.

Chandranath was shot dead on the outskirts of Kolkata on May 6, a day after the Assembly election results. The BJP subsequently fielded his mother from Nandigram.

Adhikari alleged that Chandranath was targeted because of his association with him and claimed that the Central Bureau of Investigation had already arrested people in connection with the murder.

“Chandranath's only crime was that he was my aide. His shooters were from Uttar Pradesh, who were employed by men from Munger in Bihar. Chandranath's close aide had fixed the hit and delivered ₹2 crore for the job, which was supplied by the ‘bhaipo’ (nephew) gang,” he said.

“The CBI has already made arrests and has completed 90 per cent of the job. Only the Diamond Harbour company remains to be formally linked to the crime,” Adhikari added.

These are Adhikari's allegations about the case; the investigation and any alleged links remain matters for the investigating authorities to establish.

Nandigram contest takes shape before polling

The Nandigram bypoll was necessitated after Adhikari retained Bhabanipur and vacated the Nandigram seat. He had defeated Mamata Banerjee in Nandigram in the 2021 Assembly election by 1,956 votes before subsequently winning Bhabanipur in 2026.

The contest has since been reshaped by developments involving the TMC factions, the Congress and the BJP.

Congress candidate Milan Pradhan, who had been arrested in connection with six cases dating back to the 2007 Nandigram land agitation, was granted interim bail by the Calcutta High Court on September 29. The Supreme Court is scheduled to consider the West Bengal government's challenge to that relief on October 5.

The Election Commission's allocation of separate names and symbols to rival TMC factions has also become a major issue in the campaign. The Calcutta High Court recently dismissed an Indian Secular Front plea challenging the allocation of the “Envelope” symbol to the Democratic Trinamool Congress faction.

With polling due on October 6, Adhikari's latest campaign has therefore combined an appeal to minority voters with attacks on the rival TMC factions and references to the killing of his former aide.