The BJP on Friday chose its youth wing leader and advocate Priyanka Tibrewal to take on West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for Bhabanipur Assembly constituency, which goes to bypolls along with two other seats in the state on September 30. The party named Milan Ghosh for Samserganj and Sujit Das for Jangipur seats. Voted will be counted on October 3. Tibrewal, 41, vice-president of BJP’s youth wing in Bengal, was one of the petitioners in Bengal post-poll violence cases in Calcutta High Court. The court had ordered a CBI probe, which BJP considered a victory for its stance. According to party leaders, BJP wants to ensure that Tibrewal consolidates party's cadres to register a good turnout. against the Chief Minister. Sources in state BJP said Tibrewal was picked also keeping in mind the Hindi-speaking and women voters in the constituency. Speaking to the media in Kolkata later in the day, Tibrewal said, “We (Mamata and she) are both candidates, and both are contesting an election after losing one." She was referring to Banerjee's defeat to BJP's Suvendu Adhikari in Nandigram, and her own defeat to TMC's Swarna Kamal Saha from Entally seat. Tibrewal also said, “She (Banerjee) had said that there was no violence in the state (after the elections this summer), but I defeated her (claim) in High Court — I proved there was violence.” “We approached some BJP leaders but many refused to contest,” Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh said, according to PTI. “Priyanka Tibrewal is a fearless leader, very hard working, and an excellent taskmaster. She is a very good orator. We are confident that she will win.” In an apparent bid to dismiss Tibrewal’s stature, state minister and senior Trinamool leader Firhad Hakim asked, “Who is she? What's her contribution to the society?" While the Congress is not contesting Bhabanipur bypolls, the Left Front has named CPI(M) leader Srijib Biswas as its candidate from the seat. Banerjee has time until November 5 to get elected to the Assembly.
