Former Chief Minister of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee has suffered another political setback. Just a day after his candidate in Nandigram withdrew from the election field, he has now suffered a setback in Rejinagar. His party's candidate in the by-election, Rabiul Alam Chaudhary, has also withdrawn his nomination on Saturday.
Rabiul Chaudhary has said that party workers are being harassed by the state administration, hence he is taking this decision. Talking to the media, he said that at present the party does not have any official election symbol. Party workers are being harassed in different ways.
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Why did Rabiul Chaudhary withdraw his name?
Rabiul Chaudhary claims that most of the workers have left the area for work. He said that in such a situation, on whom should he trust to contest the elections? He told that in view of the pressure from the administration, the workers have also said that he cannot continue in the election field, that is why he decided to withdraw his nomination.
When is voting?
Voting is to be held on both Nandigram and Rejinagar seats on October 6. Now Mamata Banerjee has lost her candidates on both the seats. On Friday, Mamata faction's candidate from Nandigram, Sanchita Pradhan Dey, withdrew her nomination after meeting Chief Minister Subhendu Adhikari.
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The bet of supporting Congress also got complicated
After the withdrawal of her candidate, Mamata Banerjee had on Friday announced her support to the Congress candidate in Nandigram. Interestingly, Congress candidate Milan Pradhan was arrested by the police on Friday evening itself in an old murder case of 2007.
The party's name and symbol were also snatched away
Mamta Banerjee had suffered a big shock earlier on Thursday also. The Election Commission announced freezing the name and election symbol of Trinamool Congress. Neither the Mamata Banerjee faction nor the Ritabrata Banerjee faction will be able to use the party name and symbol in these by-elections.
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If there is no symbol then how will the elections be fought?
The Election Commission has tentatively allotted new names and election symbols to both the groups. Mamata Banerjee's faction has got the name 'Mamata All India Trinamool Congress' and a 'football player' symbol. The faction led by Arup Roy and Ritabrata Banerjee has got the name 'Democratic Trinamool Congress' and 'Envelope' symbol. Mamta Banerjee has also approached the Supreme Court against this decision of the Election Commission.