Nandigram:  Prime Minister Narendra Modi will return to the state to campaign in Howrah and South 24-Parganas districts, even as polling will continue in 30 assembly seats in Phase II.

TMC aims to retain its fortress here with chief minister Mamata Banerjee herself contesting from Nandigram, the site of a land agitation that contributed to her rise in power in 2011. The party is heavily relying on the CM’s appeal to avoid major losses and parry corruption charges levelled by the opposition. But what has bolstered the BJP in this phase is East Medinipur’s powerful Adhikari family, which is siding with the party.

Suvendu Adhikari, Banerjee’s erstwhile lieutenant who won Nandigram in 2016, has crossed over to the BJP and is contesting against the CM in this high-profile constituency. His father, Sisir Adhikari, who won the Kanthi Lok Sabha seat in 2019, too, has sided with the BJP. His brother, Dibyendu Adhikari, won the Tamluk Lok Sabha seat for the TMC in 2019; he is still officially with the ruling party.