Panchayat minister and former Calcutta mayor Subrata Mukherjee will spend three days in East Midnapore’s Nandigram starting February 1 to “gauge the situation” in the wake of chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s announcement that she would contest Assembly polls from there.

Mamata’s big announcement at the January 18 mega rally in Tekhali threw the gauntlet at turncoat Suvendu Adhikari, who joined the BJP last month and whose turf Nandigram is perceived to be.

However, party sources said her surprise announcement riled a few district leaders. Apparently, zilla parishad deputy chief Sheikh Sufian had expected to be Trinamul’s Nandigram candidate, and after Mamata’s announcement, his “body language became extremely negative”, said a district worker. Sufian has been skipping most party meetings since then.

Trinamul insiders, fearing fissures, appealed to Calcutta mayor Firhad Hakim to send someone from the party for a ground assessment. That’s why Mukherjee will go there before Mamata’s next visit, party sources have said.

Sufian was absent on Tuesday at a district meeting held by president Somen Mahapatra, which over 50 leaders including panchayat samiti deputy chief Abu Taher attended. Sources said Taher appealed to Hakim last week to send an observer to Nandigram to ensure no fissures appeared in the wake of Mamata’s announcement.

“Despite Suvendu’s defection, a massive setback, we have managed well. Not too many people have left the party for his sake,” said a source, adding that Taher and Sufian were Suvendu’s adversaries.

“The chief minister will visit here in February, and so (Subrata) Mukherjee will (be here before that to) tie up any loose ends and to set the campaign trail,” the source added.

Suvendu held a rally in Nandigram on Tuesday where he proclaimed that in 14 of 17 parts of Nandigram, Mamata would be “washed out” in the polls.

Sources said Mukherjee was coming to Nandigram to assess its ground realities and read the pulse of party workers and local leadership.

“Suvendu had an iron grip on the area and many leaders were close to him. The party wants to have in place a foolproof election strategy for Nandigram and rule out any chance of sabotage. Mukherjee’s survey will assess the ground reality in an area where none other than (party supremo) Mamata Banerjee has decided to contest,” said a Trinamul leader.

Law minister Malay Ghatak will also visit Nandigram later this month, sources said.

Mukherjee told reporters on Wednesday that he was going to Nandigram to “discuss party matters in person”.