Archive · 5 Oct 2026
Can Suvendu Adhikari Break Nandigram’s Minority Voting Wall?
Nandigram is having an election on Tuesday.
Suvendu Adhikari is asking Muslim voters to support him.
Muslims make up about 27% of the constituency’s voters.
In the last election, Adhikari won by only 1,956 votes.
The article estimates that even a small change in Muslim voters’ choices could be larger than that margin.
Congress candidate Milan Pradhan says a last-minute appeal may not undo past problems.
He also made claims about people being removed from voter and welfare lists, but those claims were not independently verified.
Mamata Banerjee backed Pradhan after the Trinamool candidate withdrew.
The result will show whether enough voters change sides to alter the outcome.
Nandigram is holding a by-election on Tuesday, with Suvendu Adhikari making a direct appeal to Muslim voters.
The constituency has around 266,000 electors, including roughly 72,000 Muslims, or about 27% of the electorate.
Adhikari defeated Mamata Banerjee by 1,956 votes in 2021; a hypothetical 5% shift in the estimated Muslim vote would equal about 3,600 votes.
Congress candidate Milan Pradhan questioned whether a last-minute appeal could overcome alleged past alienation and raised allegations about voter-list and welfare-list removals that could not be independently verified.
The Trinamool candidate withdrew and Banerjee backed Pradhan; the article says the result will depend on voter preferences, turnout and how votes are distributed.
- Who
- Suvendu Adhikari, Congress candidate Milan Pradhan, and voters in Nandigram; Mamata Banerjee backed Pradhan.
- What
- A Nandigram by-election in which Adhikari is seeking Muslim voter support and Pradhan is challenging him.
- When
- Tuesday; the article does not give a calendar date.
- Where
- Nandigram, Bengal.
- Why
- The contest tests whether Adhikari can gain enough minority support to overcome a historically wide gap and affect a close electoral contest.
BJP appeal and campaign
Congress-backed challenge
Muslim voter outreach
BJP appeal and campaign
Adhikari directly appealed to Muslim voters, and the BJP cited a temporary office reportedly established by Muslim youths in Sarberia as a sign its appeal may be reaching new voters.
Congress-backed challenge
Pradhan questioned whether an appeal made immediately before polling could overcome years of alleged alienation.
Claims of exclusion and election conditions
BJP appeal and campaign
The article reports the BJP’s outreach but does not provide a response to Pradhan’s allegations.
Congress-backed challenge
Pradhan alleged harassment and exclusion, including removals from voter and welfare-related lists, and called for free and impartial polling. The allegations could not be independently verified.
How the anti-BJP vote may divide
BJP appeal and campaign
The BJP could gain enough support to change the close electoral arithmetic.
Congress-backed challenge
Banerjee’s backing of Pradhan could help consolidate the traditional anti-BJP vote behind the Congress candidate.
- Electorate
- Around 266,000 electors
- Estimated Muslim electorate
- Roughly 72,000, or about 27%
- 2021 victory margin
- Adhikari defeated Banerjee by 1,956 votes
- Illustrative vote-shift calculation
- A 5% shift in the estimated Muslim vote would amount to around 3,600 votes; the article says this is illustrative, not predictive.
- Sarberia
- Around 1,700 voters, about 70% from the minority community; a temporary BJP office reportedly appeared there.
- Booth-level example from 2021
- At a booth with 893 Muslim electors among 949, Banerjee received 806 votes and Adhikari 24.
- Voting data limitation
- The Election Commission does not publish religion-wise voting figures.