West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will commence her campaign for the ensuing panchayat elections in the state on Monday from Cooch Behar.

The Trinamul Congress supremo reached Cooch Behar on Sunday afternoon and will address a public meeting at Cooch Behar in north Bengal on Monday, commencing her campaign for the panchayat polls, party leaders said.

The panchayat elections in the state will be held on July 8.

The BJP alleged that doubts over the outcome of the rural polls have forced the TMC supremo to canvass for party candidates in the panchayat polls Questioning her decision to campaign for the panchayat elections in the state, BJP national vice president Dilip Ghosh said it is below her political stature to campaign for the rural polls.

"When her party leaders claim that she is a potential prime ministerial candidate, it is expected that she campaigns for the Lok Sabha and the assembly elections; it seems she is worried about the outcome of the polls," Ghosh told reporters here.

Pooh poohing Ghosh's claim, the TMC MP Shatabdi Roy said that Banerjee is a chief minister who mingles with the general public freely and it is she who took the administration to the doorsteps of people.

"It is they (BJP) who are worried that Mamata Banerjee is campaigning," she said.

The TMC had not done well in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections in north Bengal and the results in the 2021 assembly elections were also mixed in the region.

Trying to make the most of the first Sunday after the nomination process, the ruling TMC and opposition BJP, CPI(M) and Congress held intense campaigns for the July 8 panchayat polls in the state.

Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly Suvendu Adhikari, TMC MP Shatabdi Roy, and DYFI leader Minakshi Mukherjee were among the leaders who participated in rallies and meetings for candidates of their parties in different districts of the state.

Columns of central forces held route marches at various sensitive places, including the violence-hit Bhangore in South 24 Parganas district.

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