KOLKATA: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Suvendu Adhikari defeated incumbent West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee from Nandigram constituency by a margin of nearly 2,000 votes.
Adhikari, who was once a close aide of Banerjee, joined the BJP just a few months ahead of the state assembly elections.
As per the Election Commission of India (ECI), Adhikari won with a margin of 1,956 votes in Nandigram.
The BJP leader had earlier thanked the people of Nandigram for choosing him as their representative and the MLA from the constituency. “My sincere thanks to the great people of Nandigram for their love, trust, blessings, and support, and for choosing me as their representative and the MLA from Nandigram. It is my never-ending commitment to be of service to them and working for their welfare. I am truly grateful!” tweeted Adhikari.
Meanwhile, Mamata Banerjee claimed that she has information that some manipulations were done after the declaration of results for the Nandigram seat. Earlier on Sunday, there were reports of Mamata Banerjee winning from the Nandigram constituency. Making the game of thrones in Bengal more interesting, Mamata chose Nandigram over her home turf Bhabanipur seat this time to test her fate in the 2021 elections. It was the agitation in Nandigram and Singur against the Left government’s land acquisition policies that made Mamata Banerjee the Chief Minister of West Bengal.
Nandigram witnessed a high voltage “Khela” (game of power) on April 1 in the second phase of West Bengal assembly polls. The constituency had seen a direct contest between Banerjee and her former ministerial colleague Suvendu Adhikari, who had joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in December last year.
Notably, Adhikari had pledged that he would quit politics if he did not defeat Mamata by 50,000 votes in Nandigram.
As the counting progressed, the trend suggests the victory of the ruling TMC in West Bengal assembly elections as the party has already won 198 seats and is leading in 16 constituencies. The BJP has won 68 seats and is leading in 8 seats. The counting of votes in the state began on Sunday at 8 am following COVID-19 protocol.
Bengal witnessed a fierce contest between the ruling TMC and BJP across eight phases. The Samyukta Morcha comprising the Congress, Left parties and ISF has also tried to put up a strong fight. The BJP has made a concerted attempt to dislodge the TMC. (ANI)
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