Suvendu Adhikari will attend his first political event as the Bengal chief minister in the Falta Assembly constituency on Saturday as he will address a BJP workers' meet ahead of the May 21 re-election there.
Falta is in Abhishek Banerjee's Diamond Harbour parliamentary constituency.
The re-election was necessitated after an investigation by the Election Commission found irregularities at 60 booths, including the sticking of tapes on EVM buttons in the constituency. The Trinamool Congress strongman there, Jahangir Khan — a close aide to Abhishek — is contesting on a Trinamool ticket.
"The chief minister will address a workers' meeting on the football ground near Falta 83 bus stand. It will be his first political address after becoming the first BJP chief minister of Bengal," said a BJP leader.
Multiple sources in the BJP said the party was desperate to win the Falta Assembly constituency not only to increase its tally from 207 to 208, but also to expose that the "unbelievable" margin of victory secured by Abhishek in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls was the result of "rigging" rather than a genuine popular mandate.
Abhishek was elected MP from Diamond Harbour in 2024 by a margin of over 7.10 lakh votes. Most importantly, from the Falta Assembly constituency, he secured over 1.68 lakh of 2.05 lakh votes, which amounted to 89.09 per cent of the total votes cast.
Falta is an area dominated by Khan.
The BJP alleged a series of malpractices on the day of the second phase of polling on April 29. Reports had also emerged about tapes being stuck on EVM machines, preventing voters from casting votes in favour of candidates other than the Trinamool nominee.
The re-election result will be announced on May 24.
BJP leaders in Diamond Harbour said the situation in Falta was worse before the elections, as Opposition parties had very little scope to campaign because people were allegedly terrorised.
However, after the BJP came to power with a sweeping victory on May 4, the situation changed completely.
"Now I can't find a single TMC worker or their goon on the streets, and people have come out of fear after the magnificent victory. Voters are coming out to expose atrocities and vote loot by the TMC. Suvendu da will address the meeting, and we are treating it as a mega rally by our chief minister," said Debangshu Panda, the BJP's Falta candidate.