Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee who roared back to power for the third consecutive time in a keenly fought March-April State elections would contest in a by-poll from the Bhawanipore seat — her home turf for years to get an entry into the State Assembly.

Banerjee lost to her former close-confidant Suvendu Adhikari who later joined the BJP in a close contest at Nandigram in East Midnapore where she was defeated by a wafer-thin margin of 1,927 votes.

Banerjee who was sworn in as the Chief Minister has to win a membership of the House within six months of swearing-in. According to Article 164 of the Constitution a Minister including the Chief Minister who does not become an MLA within six months has to resign.

State Agriculture Minister and the sitting MLA and from Bhawanipore Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay who on Friday submitted his resignation to Speaker Biman Banerjee said that he had done so out of his own will and “there was no pressure from the party to do so.”

He said “the way Mamata Banerjee has fought against the evil forces is an example for the entire country and it is necessary that she continues to lead the House … and for that Bhawanipore is the best place from she should be an MLA.”

Chattopadhyay would contest from Khardaha seat in North 24 Parganas which was also won by the TMC by more than 28,000 votes. The TMC candidate however succumbed to corona infections soon after the elections.

Banerjee who resides at Bhawanipore has been an MLA from the area since 2011 but left it in 2021 for Nandigram which she called “a lucky place for me.” Incidentally the TMC had trailed BJP from the Bhawanipore Assembly segment — which falls in Kolkata South parliamentary constituency — in 2019 general elections by a few thousand votes.