New Delhi: At the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) central election committee (CEC) meeting on Thursday, BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari expressed his interest to contest the Nandigram seat against chief minister Mamata Banerjee, news reports said.According to NDTV, the decision will be taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, home minister Amit Shah and BJP president J.P. Nadda.Adhikari, who defected to the BJP in December, had won the Nandigram seat in the 2016 assembly elections. He was a minister in the TMC government before his defection. The TMC’s anti-land acquisition movement in Nandigram and Singur led Banerjee’s party to power in the 2011 assembly elections, ending the 34-year rule of the Left Front government. But, as per news reports, Adhikari was responsible for building the TMC’s base in Nandigram.According to Indian Express, another former state minister who defected to the BJP, Rajib Banerjee, said that Adhikari told senior party leaders that he was ready to contest from Nandigram.Also read: Spread Over a Month, Bengal’s Eight-Phase Election Triggers New Political Debate“Discussions were held on selection of candidates for the first two phases. Later in the evening, the parliamentary committee will once again go through the list before taking the final call. Suvendu Adhikari himself expressed his desire to contest from Nandigram. Now, we are awaiting the final announcement,” Banerjee told the Indian Express after the meeting at Nadda’s residence.Besides Modi and Shah, Union minister of road transport and highways Nitin Gadkari was also present at the CEC meeting, the report added. It further said that another meeting was scheduled for Friday.The West Bengal assembly elections for 294 seats will be held in eight phases between March 27 and April 29.