Ritabrata faction offers to step aside if Mamata contests Bengal bypoll
The Ritabrata Banerjee-led Trinamool faction will withdraw its bypoll candidate if Mamata Banerjee enters the fray, as a party dispute over name and symbol plays out before the EC.
The faction of the Trinamool Congress led by Ritabrata Banerjee has said it will pull its candidate out of the coming West Bengal assembly bypoll should Mamata Banerjee decide to contest, stating that it wants the former Chief Minister back in the House.
Banerjee, the Leader of the Opposition in the state, said the group has all but settled on a nominee for the bypoll, but would withdraw the candidature if Mamata Banerjee chooses to run, including as an independent. "We want Mamata Banerjee to come to the assembly. It will be better if she comes from Nandigram," he said, referring to the seat she lost in the 2021 assembly election.
The offer comes amid a tussle between the Mamata Banerjee-led All India Trinamool Congress and the Ritabrata faction over the party's name and election symbol. The Election Commission is hearing the competing claims, with two assembly bypolls scheduled in the state.
Ritabrata Banerjee also argued that Mamata Banerjee has never won a direct assembly election and had previously entered the House through bypolls. He expressed confidence that his faction would emerge victorious in the upcoming contests.
Nominations for the bypolls close on September 16.