Two opponents, travelling down the same stretch of road, but on somewhat opposite trajectories. That was Mamata Banerjee, leader of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and incumbent chief minister of West Bengal, and Suvendu Adhikari, her erstwhile protge and now the face of the BJP in Bengal, on their way to Bhabanipur—Suvendu on April 2 and Mamata six days later. This is the electoral arena where they are set to fight a duel on April 29. The disciple has proved a point before, defeating his mentor on his home turf Nandigram in 2021, and he is determined to reprise the act, this time in Mamata’s own backyard. She, in turn, is projecting herself not just as the defender of Bengali identity, but also as a victim and a lone crusader, pitted against the combined institutional might of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Union government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “A total of 19 states and the Centre have come together against me…,” she asserts in rally after rally. “I will continue my fight for the common people.”
