After Nandigram, Mamata Camp Loses Rejinagar Candidate Too
KOLKATA — Rabiul Alam Chowdhury, the candidate fielded by the Mamata Banerjee-led faction of the Trinamool Congress for the Rejinagar Assembly bypoll, has withdrawn his nomination, leaving the faction without a candidate in the constituency.
The withdrawal was reported on Saturday, September 19, the final day for candidates to withdraw from the October 6 bypoll. Anandabazar reported that Chowdhury had decided not to contest the election.
The development comes a day after Sanchita Pradhan Dey, the Mamata faction’s candidate in Nandigram, also withdrew her nomination. Her exit followed a meeting with West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari at the state secretariat in Kolkata.
Taken together, the two withdrawals mean the Mamata Banerjee-led faction will not have a candidate in either of the two West Bengal Assembly constituencies scheduled to vote on October 6.
Rejinagar withdrawal follows Nandigram exit
The Mamata faction had announced Chowdhury as its Rejinagar candidate on September 13, alongside Sanchita Pradhan Dey for Nandigram. Chowdhury, a former MLA, was selected to contest a seat that became vacant after Humayun Kabir resigned from the Assembly.
The Election Commission has scheduled polling in Rejinagar and Nandigram for October 6, with counting due on October 9. The deadline for withdrawing nominations was September 19.
As of the latest report on Chowdhury’s withdrawal, there was no publicly verified explanation from him establishing why he decided to leave the race.
That distinction is important because the Rejinagar withdrawal follows a turbulent 48 hours for the Mamata faction, but there is no confirmed evidence in the available reporting that the two candidates withdrew for the same reason.
Election Commission changes TMC identity
The withdrawals also come against the backdrop of an internal dispute over control of the Trinamool Congress.
On September 18, the Election Commission allotted the Mamata Banerjee-led faction the temporary name “Mamata All India Trinamool Congress” and the “Football Player” election symbol. The rival faction was allotted the name “Democratic Trinamool Congress” and the “Envelope” symbol.
The commission had frozen the use of the Trinamool Congress name and its traditional flowers-and-grass symbol by the rival factions ahead of the bypolls.
The new arrangements apply to the coming electoral contests while the dispute over the party’s identity remains unresolved.
The change was particularly significant because candidates had already filed nominations under the competing factions before the commission’s interim decision.
Mamata backs Congress in Nandigram
The Rejinagar development follows an equally unusual sequence in Nandigram.
Sanchita Pradhan Dey withdrew her nomination on September 18 after meeting Suvendu Adhikari. Reports identified the meeting as taking place at Nabanna, where she was accompanied by her husband, Satyajit. The withdrawal left the Mamata faction without a candidate in Nandigram.
Mamata Banerjee subsequently said her faction would support Congress candidate Milan Pradhan in Nandigram. She described Congress as a “sister party” and said the decision was intended to strengthen the INDIA bloc. Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, however, said Congress had not sought the support.
The Nandigram candidate’s withdrawal was followed later that day by Milan Pradhan’s arrest in connection with a 2007 murder case linked to the Nandigram land-acquisition agitation, according to multiple reports. The case and the circumstances surrounding the arrest have drawn competing political claims, which remain matters of dispute.
Banerjee had also said on Friday that she would separately announce her position on Rejinagar. At that point, her faction’s Rabiul Alam Chowdhury was still the declared candidate.
His withdrawal on Saturday changes that position.
What happens in Rejinagar now
With Chowdhury out of the contest, the Mamata faction will not field a candidate in Rejinagar. There is no provision for a fresh nomination after the withdrawal deadline has passed.
Congress had earlier nominated Mohd. Abdullahil Kafi for Rejinagar, while the BJP selected Sakharav Sarkar. The CPI(M) has nominated advocate Sayeed Asad Ali.
The Rejinagar seat became vacant after Humayun Kabir, who had won the constituency in the 2026 Assembly election, resigned after also securing victory from Nowda.
The constituency is in Murshidabad district and is one of the two Bengal seats going to bypolls on October 6.
For now, the most immediate confirmed fact is straightforward: Mamata Banerjee’s faction has lost its candidate in Rejinagar one day after its Nandigram nominee also withdrew. Available reporting has not independently established the reasons behind Chowdhury’s decision.
The contest will proceed without a Mamata faction candidate in either constituency unless the Election Commission announces any change to the published election process.
