In Nandigram, where Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee faced a narrow defeat at the hands of her rival, the echoes of a resolute fight reverberates once again as the upcoming panchayat polls poses a crucial challenge for both the ruling party which seeks to storm its opponent's stronghold.

Nandigram first came into prominence when Banerjee had led a movement against land acquisition by the then Left Front government in 2007 and later when her erstwhile protégé Suvendu Adkikari challenged her in elections in 2021.

The saffron camp, on the other hand, is pinning hopes on former local TMC leaders-turned-independent candidates to turn the tide in favour of the party.

"For us, the challenge is to regain the lost ground in Nandigram as this is not just any other place for us but a political pilgrimage for all those who believe in the ideology of Mamata Banerjee. The BJP had won the assembly segment by using unethical means. But Nandigram would teach BJP a lesson this time," Sheikh Sufiyan, vice-president of Purba Medinipur Zilla Parishad, told PTI.

The anti-land acquisition movement veteran, who has been denied a ticket this time, conceded that several aspirants, who were denied tickets and are fighting as independents, might prove to be a "problem" in some areas but added that they won't be a deciding factor in the polls.

The Purba Medinipur Zilla parishad, under which Nandigram falls, has been a pocket borough of the TMC since 2008, when it first snatched the district, which has a considerable minority population, from the Left Front. Since then, there has been no looking back for the party.

The party won the 2013 and 2018 rural polls in the area with massive margins, with the last one being mainly uncontested. However, the loss in 2021 to Suvendu Adhikari, a former TMC leader who crossed over to the BJP, still rankles for the ruling party.

In the two blocks of Nandigram -- block 1 and 2 -- which have around 40 and 17 per cent minority population respectively, the TMC has decided to put up new faces in 80 per cent of seats leading to a protest by veterans who chose to contest as independents, thus exposing the fissures in the party ranks.

The BJP, for its part, hopes this rebellion will help it by dividing votes.

"For the party, the challenge is to regain lost ground in Nandigram, but instead of focusing on it, the leadership sidelined old-timers and showed faith in newcomers, mostly from the BJP," complained Nasima Khatun, a zilla parishad member contesting as independent after being denied a ticket.

According to party sources, the decision to put up fresh faces was taken following reports of corruption and non-performance of its leaders and office-bearers in the village councils.

"Does the party think that the candidates they have put up are all saints and we are all thieves? Most of those who were given tickets are corrupt agents of the BJP. The party will pay for ignoring its tried and tested workers," said a TMC leader contesting as an independent.

Declining to attach much importance to the party renegades, TMC Nandigram block president and youth leader Bappaditya Garga said, "TMC will win because of the developmental work it has done in the last 15 years." "People vote for the developmental work of Mamata Banerjee. In 2021, BJP defeated us through deception and politics of hate. This time our victory will be our answer to the BJP," he said.

With no industries since the villagers' uprising against a proposed chemical hub, Nandigram has primarily an agricultural economy supplying rice, vegetables and fresh fish to adjoining areas, skirted as it is by the Hooghly and Haldi rivers.

Control of the village council is not just about political turf war but also about livelihood and economy, as people here mainly depend on the government and panchayat to earn their livelihood.

BJP's Purba Medinipur district committee member Avijit Maity said the party is confident of a rerun of the 2021 assembly polls results in the area when it won the seats by a slender margin of around 1,900 votes.

"The TMC will be defeated in the panchayat polls this time. We are ready for their challenge to reclaim Nandigram. They will have to answer for the corruption in the last 15 years," he said.

The BJP has witnessed a steady rise in its fortunes here since 2016 when it bagged over 1.96 lakh votes in the 2016 by-elections to the Tamluk Lok Sabha seat and finished third.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha election, the BJP consolidated its position, with its candidate clinching over 5.34 lakh votes, followed by its victory in Nandigram and six other assembly segments in the district in the 2021 assembly polls.

Adhikari who was earlier Banerjee's lieutenant during the agitation here against the chemical hub, switched to the BJP in December 2020 and fought successfully against his former mentor in assembly polls in 2021.

However, the key to victory lies with the independents and the CPI(M), which for the first time in the last ten years, has been able to put up candidates in around 70 per cent of the village council seats.

"We will do well in the elections. We are fighting against the corruption of the TMC. If free and fair polls take place, the TMC will be ousted lock, stock and barrel," CPI(M) leader in Nandigram, Ibdul Hossain, said.

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