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Mamata Banerjee challenges Suvendu Adhikari’s Nandigram win in Calcutta High Court
The matter will be taken up for hearing on Friday.
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday moved the Calcutta High Court, challenging Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Suvendu Adhikari’s win from the assembly constituency of Nandigram in the West Bengal assembly elections, according to news agency ANI.
The court will take up the matter on Friday, it said.
Also Read: Once Mamata Banerjee’s victory ground against Left Front, Nandigram welcomes BJP
The Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief was defeated by Adhikari, her former aide, after a close fight. On May 2, when counting of votes for 292 of West Bengal’s 294 assembly constituencies took place, Banerjee was initially announced as the winner, by a margin of more than 1200 votes. However, later, Adhikari was declared to have won Nandigram by more than 1900 votes.
Also Read: Don't worry about Nandigram, says Mamata amid result flip-flop
Addressing her supporters as the TMC moved towards a comprehensive win, Banerjee said she would “move court” against Adhikari’s win. Later that day, the Election Commission (ECI) rejected TMC’s request seeking recounting of votes in Nandigram.
Also Read: As Suvendu Adhikari 'wins' Nandigram, TMC calls for 'immediate' recounting
The TMC supremo contested from Nandigram despite being the incumbent MLA from Bhabanipur. In the run-up to the elections, Adhikari “vowed” he would defeat her by 50,000 votes, and is now the leader of the opposition in the West Bengal assembly.
Voting for assembly polls in the eastern state took place across an unprecedented eight phases, between March 27 and April 29. The TMC, under Banerjee, won a third consecutive term in office, winning 213 seats, while the BJP registered its best-ever performance with 77 seats. However, since then, the BJP has seen a series of defections back to the TMC, the most high-profile of which was the return of Mukul Roy to the Banerjee-headed party. Roy joined the BJP in 2017 and was a vice president when he made his return to the TMC.
