EC Rejects TMC’s Request For Recount in Nandigram After Suvendu Adhikari Declared Winner

The Election Commission has rejected the appeal of the Trinamool Congress for a recount at Nandigram, where CM Mamata Banerjee lost to Suvendu Adhikari. The Returning Officer said that the result will be officially declared after the VVPAT slips are tallied with the votes on the Electronic Voting Machines.

In Nandigram, which was the cynosure of all eyes due to its high-octane election, BJP star candidate Suvendu Adhikari on Sunday outsmarted TMC supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee by a margin of 1,956 votes to emerge the winner in the constituency, NDTV reported.

While Adhikari bagged 1,10,764 votes, Banerjee, his one-time mentor, managed 1,08808 votes, the poll panel confirmed.

CPI(M)’s Minakshi Mukherjee finished in a distant third position polling just 6267 votes, the EC website said. There was massive confusion on who had actually bagged the crucial Nandigram seat after reports stating that Banerjee had defeated Adhikari appeared in different media though there was no confirmation from the Election Commission.

While Adhikari thanked the people of Nandigram for voting in his favour, the TMC raised question on BJP’s victory in the seat.

“Something is fishy about Nandigram, don’t you think? A party wins nearly three-fourths of all the seats in the state and the Chief Minister loses her seat – something very fishy went on in Nandigram,” senior Trinamool leader Derek O’Brien told NDTV.

The BJP on the other hand said that some of its leaders, including Suvendu Adhikari, were heckled by TMC activists. Some of the demonstrators banged on the windshield of Adhikari’s car and also hurled stones near a counting centre in Haldia, members of the saffron party claimed. “He is a traitor. He took to unfair means to change the results,” a TMC activist was heard saying.

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