Kolkata, Sep 26 (PTI) Actor-turned BJP MP Manoj Tiwari on Sunday claimed that there is a groundswell in favour of the saffron party in the by-poll to Bhabanipur assembly seat where West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is the Trinamool Congress candidate.

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The ruling party, however, alleged that the BJP is bringing in leaders, who have "no connection" to the assembly constituency to campaign for the saffron camp nominee Priyanka Tibrewal.

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Tiwari, who represents North East Delhi in the Lok Sabha, went for a door-to-door campaign in Ambedkar Colony area of Bhabanipur for the September 30 byelection.

"Love of the people of Ambedkar Colony is immense..#tmc Terrified to see support...Voters are eagerly waiting for 30th September... Lotus will bloom," Tiwari tweeted in Hindi.

"I hope people will come out to vote freely without any fear and the BJP will win," he told reporters during the campaign.

Reacting to Tiwari's comments, Firhad Hakim, a state minister and one of the key campaigners of Banerjee, said, "The BJP is bringing in leaders who have no connection with people of Bhabanipur. They are daydreaming and will experience a crushing defeat in the by-poll."

Union Ministers Hardeep Singh Puri and Smriti Irani have come to Bhabanipur to campaign for the BJP candidate.

Notably, Banerjee, who lost to BJP's Suvendu Adhikari in Nandigram during the April-May assembly polls, is contesting the by-poll to retain her chief minister's chair.

Shortly after the poll results were announced in May, state cabinet minister and TMC MLA from Bhabanipur Sovandeb Chattopadhyay vacated the seat to facilitate her return to the assembly from there.

Banerjee has to get elected to the assembly by November 5, in conformity with the constitutional provisions, to continue as the chief minister.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)