Nandigram in Purba Medinipur, represented by senior BJP leader and state Leader of the Opposition (LoP) Suvendu Adhikari, is one of the key seats that went to polls in the first phase of the West Bengal Assembly elections Thursday.Mirroring the record statewide voting, Nandigram registered about 90.07% polling till 6 pm, according to the Election Commission (EC). This is likely to rise further when the EC issues the final turnout figure.AdvertisementThe significance of the constituency could be gauged from the point that it was Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo Mamata Banerjee’s anti-land acquisition movement in 2007 which she launched in Nandigram, along with the one in Singur, that catapulted her to the Chief Minister’s office in 2011, when she ended the Left Front government’s 34-year rule.Once Mamata’s close aide, Suvendu defeated Mamata in Nandigram in the 2021 election by about 1,900 votes, making the contest a prestige battle again this time.Besides contesting from his home turf, Suvendu is also taking on Mamata in her Bhabanipur seat in Kolkata. In Nandigram, the TMC has pitted Suvendu’s ex-aide Pabitra Kar against him.AdvertisementOn Thursday morning, Suvendu left his Kanthi home in the belt to cast his vote before he started visiting various booths in different parts of Nandigram to take stock of polling. BJP candidate Suvendu Adhikari casts his vote at his polling booth in Nandigram and interacts with general voters. (Express photo by Purba Mednipur)At Brajmohan Tiwari High School, he alleged that a local Block Level Officer (BLO) was “influencing” voters.While visiting a booth at Badnakachira, he alleged that 175 Hindu voters were threatened there in the previous Assembly election in 2021. He told the central security personnel there that “a murder accused Sheikh Shahabuddin was roaming around and trying to intimidate voters”.The LoP also claimed that “TMC is losing” and that the ruling party “could not even deploy its polling agents in many places”.Despite the summer heat, long queues of electors, mostly women, were seen at many polling booths across the constituency. Some voters pointed to unprecedented security arrangements made by the EC in this election.At Beindapur Board Prathomik Vidyalaya, a voter Shahanara Biwi said, “Everything is peaceful. We thought that there might be trouble, but there is so much security here.”Another voter Mithun Das said said, “We just want jobs and development, and nothing else.”At Amdabad Higher Secondary School, a voter Bishu Pramanik said, “We came early anticipating rising temperatures later in the day. All we want is peace in the district and state.”Along the narrow, winding rural roads, the entire stretch is covered with flags of both the leading contenders, mainly of the BJP.Suvendu claimed that he could reach every booth where he had not been allowed to enter in the 2021 polls. He was also seen having puffed rice with some locals during his visits.At Rajaramchak Shikhaniketan Higher Secondary School, he told media persons: “Voting is peaceful. I was not allowed here in 2021. But the situation has changed now.”Suvendu also visited a polling booth near his TMC rival’s residence. Kar was seen crossing the LoP’s convoy, but they did not exchange any greetings.Speaking to reporters, Kar claimed: “We are confident that we will win. I am confident about it. Let him (Suvendu) roam around. I have faith in the people of my constituency.”Kar’s wife Shuili Kar told The Indian Express: “I thought Suvendu Adhikari was a nice person. But see, he stood right next to our house and spoke to people. He is doing all this purposely.”While polling passed off peacefully in Nandigram, some sporadic incidents were reported in the final moments of voting. At booth no. 37 in Jelemara, the TMC alleged that its Bekutia 1 unit chief Rakhahari Ghorai was assaulted by BJP workers when he went to cast his vote. He was taken to Nandigram Super Speciality Hospital for treatment with police assistance. Rejecting the TMC’s allegations, the BJP blamed Ghorai for the incident.you may likeAfter the LoP left a booth at a primary school at Bimkata, a group of people raised the “Joy Bangla” slogan, claiming that Suvendu would “lose”. One of them alleged: “He (Suvendu) has done nothing for us. Everything has been done by Didi (Mamata).”While the fallout of the EC’s controversial Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and the narratives of welfare politics and cultural battles played out in the rest of Bengal, the run-up to the polls in Nandigram saw both the TMC and the BJP playing a polarisation game.In 2021, Nandigram faced intense violence marked by clashes between the TMC and BJP workers. In violence that erupted in the belt ahead of the polls then, several political workers were injured, with post-poll violence seeing over 1,000 houses and shops being ransacked.