Nandigram, 17 September (H.S.): Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Hasirani Rath on Thursday formally began her campaign for the Nandigram Assembly bypoll, holding a meeting with party functionaries at Reyapara on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's birthday.

Rath, the mother of late Chandranath Rath, a former aide of West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, had filed her nomination earlier this week in the presence of Adhikari. The Nandigram bypoll is scheduled to be held on October 6.

During her first campaign programme, Rath held a meeting at the party's MLA office in Reyapara with mandal presidents, legislators in charge of five mandals and leaders responsible for 17 gram panchayats under the Tamluk organisational district.

Rath said she was entering the electoral contest while dealing with the grief of losing her son. She said she believed Adhikari, whom she described as her guardian, would continue to support her and that she hoped to get justice in connection with her son's death.

Rath also referred to an earlier political statement concerning Adhikari and alleged that plans for the Nandigram contest had been underway for some time. Her remarks were part of her campaign speech and could not be independently verified.

Kanthi BJP MP Soumendu Adhikari, who is overseeing the party's campaign in Nandigram, said the opposition parties were fighting for their political survival, while the BJP was working with a target of securing a margin of 1.10 lakh votes. He also appealed to minority voters to give the BJP an opportunity, saying development should not be based on political or community considerations.

The 1.10 lakh-vote figure is a campaign target stated by BJP leaders and is not a prediction of the election result. Current reports have also recorded similar claims by Hasirani Rath and BJP leaders ahead of the bypoll.

The BJP had announced Rath as its candidate for Nandigram earlier this week. She is contesting the seat following the resignation of Suvendu Adhikari, who had won from two constituencies in the 2026 Assembly election and subsequently vacated one of them.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Priyanka Pandey