Nandigram: During the polls of 2021, a wheelchair-bound Mamata Banerjee chose Nandigram’s Boyal as her anchorage, scripting one of the defining moments of a razor-edge contest. In 2026, it was Suvendu Adhikari — once her opponent, now facing aide-turned-foe Pabitra Kar — choosing the same Boyal as his basecamp. It’s here that all eyes tracking Nandigram’s tense poll day were focused on Thursday.Around 12.45pm, BJP candidate Adhikari reached Sambhunath Primary School booth in Boyal, less than 100 metres from Kar’s home. With four cars and 38 media vehicles trailing him, he stayed on the main road for several minutes. “Listen to the voters and you will know why Trinamool is on its way out,” Adhikari said.Kar’s wife Siuli, the local panchayat chief, was at the booth. “My husband just called up to ask me to get his lunch. Meanwhile, news came that some outsiders from BJP had beaten up a local youth. I was attending to him when Adhikari arrived here to disturb peace,” she alleged.Minutes later, Kar arrived. As BJP and TMC workers started a battle of slogans, central forces stepped in. “I am not opposed to the person named Suvendu. I do not agree with his politics,” Kar said before walking inside.Adhikari’s next stop was at Boyal Maqtab Primary School, the same booth where Banerjee had sat for over two hours, accusing outsiders voting en masse, in 2021. “This time, there is no drama here. All goons have been bottled up,” Adhikari said as he left the booth.Adhikari had started the day early, leaving his Contai residence at 6.45am. He voted at Nandannayakbar Primary School in Nandigram town at 8am, and then toured booths where BJP had lagged behind. He pulled up polling staff at Nandigram BMT High School over “slow polling” and visited Garchakraberia, Kendemari and Bhekutia, all violence-prone areas. “TMC goons did not let me enter these booths in 2021. This time, they have been taught a lesson,” he said.Between 9.15am and 11.30am, Adhikari covered 44km inside Nandigram. “I was with Trinamool in 2011… In 2021, BJP was ready to change. This time, the people are ready, even more than 15 years ago,” he claimed.At Bhekutia, where a Trinamool worker was murdered in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Adhikari again alleged voter intimidation before leaving amid “Joy Bangla” slogans. By evening, he was sharing jhalmuri with woman voters at Babukhanbar. “Just watch how we conduct elections in south Kolkata and South 24 Parganas,” he said.Kar voted shortly after 7am and headed to Trinamool’s ‘war room’ at Sheikh Sufian’s office. After lunch, he went to Sonachura and Golkulnagar following reports of voter intimidation by BJP. The rest of the day, he largely stayed at the Sonachura party office. “I study all year round. I do not depend on last-minute study,” Kar said. “I do not intimidate voters or provide cash and sarees days before polls. I get votes out of love. Let us wait for May 4,” he added.Amid reports of an exceptionally peaceful election, Nandigram residents seemed to echo the sentiments of Saudkhali’s Manju Arik, who lost a relative in the 2024 LS polls. “We Wanted to give peace a chance. We are tired of violence being used as a political weapon,” said Arik.
