Kolkata/Nandigram: “None of you has to chant Jai Shri Ram if you don’t want to,” CM Suvendu Adhikari told voters in Nandigram on Friday as he reached out to the sizeable minority population in the seat ahead of the Oct 6 bypoll.Campaigning for BJP’s Hasirani Rath, mother of his murdered aide Chandranath Rath, Adhikari said, “We chant Jai Sri Ram but no one is forcing you to do the same. If you don’t feel like saying it, then don’t. Instead, say Bharat Mata ki Jai.”He added that the bypolls in Nandigram and Rejinagar, a Muslim-dominated seat, offered minorities the best opportunity to extend a hand of friendship to the saffron party.“Will our minority brothers and sisters keep turning their faces away from us? You will not get a better opportunity than this. Oct 6 is an auspicious day to build a friendship. Shake hands, build a bond. Prime Minister Modi works for everyone and the chief minister will also work for everyone,” he said.Nandigram Block 1 has about 35%-40% Muslim population, and for Nandigram Block 2, the figure is 12%.Adhikari, who won the seat three consecutive times since 2016, vacated it this year and retained Bhabanipur where he defeated former CM Mamata Banerjee. Adhikari’s 2026 win margin was 9,665 votes. In 2021, when he took on Mamata Banerjee here, his victory margin was 1,956 votes. That result was challenged in Calcutta High Court and is still sub judice.Attending back-to-back rallies in Nandigram on Friday, Adhikari promised to “do three times as much for you as I used to do as an MLA”. “The BJP candidate is also an elected panchayat official from Chandipur (Nandigram block 3). She will offer additional support from here. Whatever public services I used to provide will continue. Come rain or cold, you will find me here. Nandigram is my seat of honour. In 2021, you elected me without expecting anything in return. In 2026, you made me chief minister. So, why do I need to ask?”Explaining why he vacated Nandigram, the CM explained that vacating Bhabanipur would have given the “rejected candidate” (Banerjee) another chance to contest and added, “Don’t feel hurt. On Oct 9 (result day), I want people to see that the same voters who made me CM have voted for lotus again.”Stressing that BJP was the only option before them, Adhikari said, “Trinamool Congress no longer exists. There are no MPs, no MLAs. Their MPs are NCPI and MLAs are kham (envelope) Trinamool. The grass-flower symbol has been uprooted. Their Nandigram candidate has withdrawn her nomination and vanished. Whom will you vote for? Signboard Congress? Left-backed CPI? Do they even exist anymore?”Speaking in Birulia, where Banerjee was injured while campaigning in the 2021 assembly polls, Adhikari alleged that a bandage was put on her uninjured leg. “Her own doctors wrote in reports that there was no fracture. If needed, and if challenged, I will produce these. I am also the home minister now. I will prove how she insulted all of Birulia and Nandigram,” he said.
