Veteran Trinamool Congress leader Subrata Mukherjee has been given the responsibility to conduct booth-by-booth survey in Nandigram after Mamata Banerjee declared her name for candidacy there.

The TMC supremo announced it after rebel leader Suvendu Adhikari, who represented Nandigram, had crossed over to the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) last month at a mega rally in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

Ever since Adhikari deserted, the TMC organisation in Nandigram has been facing issues such as factionalism and lacking of strong leader whould could replace the former MLA.

Thus, Mukherjee’s deployment is believed to be an indication that Mamata Banerjee was serious about beating the TMC-turned-BJP behemoth, reported Bengali daily Sangbad Pratidin. However, it’s not yet known if Adhikari himself with contest in Nandigram from BJP ticket.

“I’ll visit each and every booth in Nandigram. I’ll also pay visits to the citizens at their homes and try to understand what they are thinking about Mamata Banerjee,” Mukherjee was quoted as saying by the daily.

TMC supremo, addressing a public meeting in Nandigram earlier this month, said, “I will contest from Nandigram. Nandigram is my lucky place.”

The CM said that she could contest from two constituencies, including Bhowanipur in Kolkata.

She said, “If possible, I will contest from both Bhowanipore and Nandigram. In case I am unable to contest from Bhawanipore, someone else would contest.”

The Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) had come to power in 2011 assembly elections on the campaign for farmers’ land in Nandigram. In 2007, 14 people were killed in clashes as protests erupted against an SEZ project in Nandigram which was cleared by the Left government. The TMC’s ‘Ma, Maati, Manush’ campaign had led to CM Mamata Banerjee’s landslide win defeating the Left government.

This move by the TMC chief is seen as a direct challenge to Suvendu Adhikari, who had led an exodus of Trinamool leaders to the BJP in December.

The BJP leader, on the other hand, has claimed that he would beat her former party chief by a margin of more than 50,000 votes.