Lawyer-turned politician Priyanka Tibrewal will on Monday, 13 September, file her nomination on a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ticket for the upcoming bypolls at Bhabanipur – a candidature that will put her in a direct contest with three-time West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee, fighting from the same seat.
According to Hindustan Times, Tibrewal launched her campaign in the presence of state BJP President Dilip Ghosh by painting the party's lotus symbol on a wall in Bhabanipur.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had on 10 September, picked advocate Priyanka Tibrewal to contend against West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in the Bhabanipur bypolls on 30 September.
Tibrewal's fielding is significant as Banerjee's election to the assembly is crucial for her to retain her post as the CM. In the 2021 assembly elections, Banerjee was defeated in Nandigram by her former associate-turned-rival Suvendhu Adhikari who contested on a BJP ticket.
The Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo has won the Bhabanipur seat twice in the previous elections. Banerjee will now need a victory against Tibrewal to continue as chief minister.
CM Banerjee had filed her nomination from Bhabanipur on 10 September.
Who Is Priyanka Tibrewal?
A Delhi University graduate, with a degree in law from the University of Calcutta, Tibrewal practises at the Calcutta High Court and Supreme Court.
She came into the political mainstream after she advocated for an independent inquiry into the violence unleashed after the WB assembly elections.
She approached the Calcutta High Court to seek justice for the murder of Abhijeet Sarkar, and was successful in getting court order for a CBI investigation and constitution of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) for probing cases of post-poll violence.
After serving as legal advisor to Union Minister Babul Supriyo, Tibrewal joined the BJP upon his insistence in 2014.
Since 2020, Tibrewal serves as the vice-president of BJP’s youth wing in West Bengal. Party sources claim that she is an 'active and vocal young leader' of the party in Bengal, The Indian Express reported.
In the high-powered state Assembly elections of 2021, Tibrewal contested from Entally, but lost to her Trinamool Congress rival by over 58,000 votes.
What Tibrewal Said Post Nomination
"Bhabanipur nijer meyekei chaay (Bhabanipur wants its own daughter)," Tibrewal had said on 10 September, the day her candidature was announced by the BJP, reported news agency ANI.
She also reportedly hit out at the TMC over the bypolls, saying, "The candidate opposite me (Mamata Banerjee) has lost an election, that's why a by-election is being held in Bhabanipur. They (TMC) had already won Bhabanipur but they don't care for democracy or for what people say."
Further, the BJP candidate added: "People had given mandate to someone from TMC over there but Mamata Banerjee decided to remove him as she wanted to contest," and lamented the "condition of the democracy here".
"They have no respect for people's thoughts and votes," Tibrewal said, according to ANI.
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