Two ex-IPS officers to battle it out in West Bengal's Debra assembly seat

Two super cops are engaged in a head-to-head contest in West Bengal's Debra assembly seat in the second phase of polling on April 1.

After the high-voltage Nandigram contest, it is the Debra assembly seat that set the poll fever high for the second phase of West Bengal elections.

In the Debra seat, BJP has fielded former IPS officer Bharati Ghosh against Trinamool Congress's Humayun Kabir, also an ex-IPS officer.

Notably, Ghosh once happened to be close to Mamata. She joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2019 ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.

On the other hand, Kabir joined TMC ahead of the West Bengal Assembly polls.

Speaking to , Humayun Kabir said, "My wife has been in the TMC. If she contests the election, there would be no one to look after our children. So I resigned from the IPS and came to election fray."

Asked about the rumours that his ticket is a reward from Mamata Banerjee as he had arrested three persons in the rally of BJP leader Suvendu Adhikary, Kabir refuted the allegations.

On Bharati Ghosh, Kabir said, "There is no comparison between Bharati Ghosh and me. There are 19 cases against her. She earned a lot of money wrongfully. Do not compare me with her. She will surely go to jail."

Meanwhile, Bharati Ghosh dismissed the allegations made by Kabir.

"All this is wrong. All these cases are framed after my resignation. Mamata Banerjee had felicitated me with the Best IPS officer award. I had served the United Nations for six years. When I refused to do the wrong deeds wanted by Mamata and resigned, she started framing cases against me. The matter is in the Supreme Court and I have given all the evidence to the court," Ghosh told .

Nandigram will witness the most high-profile contest of West Bengal elections with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee taking on her former ministerial colleague Suvendu Adhikari, who had joined BJP in December last year. Adhikari had earlier said that BJP will defeat Banerjee by over 50,000 votes from Nandigram.

The polling in Nandigram will take place on April 1, in the second phase of the upcoming Assembly elections.

Meanwhile, the first phase of the West Bengal Assembly elections concluded with an estimated 79.79 per cent voter turnout on Saturday.

In the first phase, 30 seats covering all assembly constituencies from the districts of Purulia and Jhargram and a segment of Bankura, Purba Medinipur and Paschim Medinipur went to polls to decide on the electoral fate of 191 candidates, including 21 women.

( With inputs from ANI )