Will withdraw candidate if Mamata contests bypoll: Ritabrata Banerjee

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Ritabrata Banerjee said his faction was confident it would win the upcoming bypolls. File | Photo Credit: Shashi Shekhar Kashyap

The Ritabrata Banerjee-led faction of the Trinamool Congress on Saturday (September 12, 2026) said it would withdraw its candidate from the upcoming West Bengal assembly bypoll if Mamata Banerjee decides to contest, saying it wants the former Chief Minister back in the Assembly.

Ritabrata Banerjee, Leader of the Opposition in West Bengal, said the faction had more or less finalised its candidate for the bypoll but would withdraw the nominee if Mamata Banerjee chooses to contest, even as an independent.

"We want Mamata Banerjee to come to the assembly. It will be better if she comes from Nandigram," he said, referring to the constituency from which she lost the 2021 assembly election.

The remarks came amid a dispute between the Mamata Banerjee-led All India Trinamool Congress and the Ritabrata faction over the party's name and election symbol.

The Election Commission is hearing the rival claims, with two assembly bypolls scheduled in the State.

Ritabrata Banerjee claimed that Mamata Banerjee had not won a direct assembly election and entered the assembly through bypolls on earlier occasions.

He also said his faction was confident it would win the upcoming bypolls.

The last date for filing nominations for the bypolls is September 16.

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