Suvendu Adhikari leads Mamata Banerjee in high-stakes battle of Nandigram

Trinamool Congress  (TMC) leader Mamata Banerjee is trailing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s Suvendu Adhikari by over 7,000 votes in Nandigram, according to votes counted till now in West Bengal.

TMC is ahead in the state, leading in 187 seats. The BJP is ahead in 100 seats as of now. However, these are clearly early trends and given the tough fight exit polls had predicted, the election might go down to the wire.

Adhikari, a former Trinamool leader, has vowed to quit politics if he doesn't defeat Mamata Banerjee by more than 50,000 votes.

"I have a very old relationship with the people of the area. I have a personal relationship with almost every person in Nandigram. Pretty confident that I will win the election," Adhikari had said earlier.

Suvendu quit TMC in December last year after an almost two-decade association as he felt sidelined with the rise of Mamata Banerjee's nephew Abhishek and some organisational changes.

For Suvendu, it is a battle for political survival as a defeat would be a devastating blow and might also put a question mark on his political graph in his new party the BJP. A victory would not only establish him as one of the tallest leaders in Bengal but would also push him few miles ahead of others in the mhief Ministerial race in case the BJP is voted to power.

Mamata, too has taken the fight of Nandigram deeply personal. She saw it as "teaching a lesson for the betrayal and treachery by the Adhikari family". 

Suvendu, a former protege of Mamata had challenged her to a direct contest, and many believe she had no option other than to accept the challenge, as a way to prove her political supremacy in the state

Many analysts had predicted that Nandigram will be one of the most-watched electoral battles in the state's history.