WB polls: Netaji's kin to lock horns with Mamata

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is making desperate attempts to establish its foothold in West Bengal, has decided to field Netaji's kin Chandra Bose against TMC supremo and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in the upcoming state assembly polls.

Bose will contest against Mamata in her political bastion Bhawanipore in the poll-bound state.

Talking to the media after this announcement, Bose expressed confidence that the BJP would rout the TMC in the assembly polls while stating it is high time that a pro-development government should come and govern West Bengal.

"For 34 years, there was CPI (M) government in West Bengal after which the state sought a change and voted for the Trinamool Congress. But if you ask the people of the state, they will say the change which occurred was not good the Trinamool acted like the previous government," Bose told the media in the national capital.

"But now, the time has come that good changes should be brought in the state. The BJP will bring the desired changes and help Bengal develop as there has been no development in the state... The law and order situation has collapsed, no investments are comings in the state and the factories have shut down," he added.

Bose, however, refused to disclose whether he would be the BJP's chief ministerial candidate in the polls.

"I don't know who will be the CM candidate, but yes I will be contesting from Bhawanipore," he said.

The TMC supremo had emerged victorious in the Bhawanipore assembly by-election in 2011 by a convincing margin of 54,213 votes. She defeated her rival Nandini Mukhopadhyay of the Communist Party of India (Marxist).

The Bhawanipore seat falls in the Kolkata Dakshin Lok Sabha constituency.

The Election Commission had on Friday announced the dates for the West Bengal assembly elections. The first phase of the six-phase voting will take place on April 4 and 11, while the second and third phases will be conducted on April 17 and 21, respectively.

The last three phases of elections will take place on April 25 and 30 April and May5, whereas the votes will be counted and results will be declared on May 19.