Mamata Banerjee, who contested from Nandigram, was defeated by BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari (File)
New Delhi:
A notice will be sent to the Election Commission regarding the assembly elections in Bengal’s Nandigram, where Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee lost to BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari in May, while her party won a landslide victory elsewhere in the state. After an extremely slow count, the chief minister lost from her ally to an arch-rival by less than 2,000 votes, which saw many twists and turns. Meanwhile, BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari appealed to the Supreme Court, seeking the matter to be thrown out. of Bengal.
After the Election Commission rejected Ms Banerjee’s appeal for recounting of votes, she had challenged the results in court, and demanded that Suvendu Adhikari’s election be declared void.
Justice Shampa Sarkar, who is hearing the matter online, said that notice should be sent to the Commission and the Returning Officer. He also said that all the voting papers and electronic voting machines should be protected.
Ms Banerjee – who participated in the online hearing – has accused Mr Adhikari of corruption, including bribery, promoting hatred and enmity, seeking votes on the basis of religion and booth capturing.
He said in his petition that there were also discrepancies in the counting process and discrepancies and non-compliance in Form 17C, which is an account of the votes recorded and the result of counting.
The next hearing of the case will be on August 12.
After Justice Kaushik Chanda walked out of the case, Justice Sarkar accused Ms Banerjee of “a planned move to defame a judge” and a breach of her constitutional duty. A fine of Rs 5 lakh was also imposed on him.
Ms Banerjee had asked the judge to drop the case on “conflict of interest”. In a letter to the Chief Justice, he said the judge had links with the BJP’s legal cell before his elevation and was concerned about bias.
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