In West Bengal, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Sunday pocketed 213 of the 292 Assembly seats that went to polls and secured a third straight term in office. The Mamata Banerjee-led party's main challenger, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), bagged 77 seats, while the Congress and the Left drew a blank. Even as her party secured an unprecedented victory, Mamata Banerjee herself lost to her former aide Suvendu Adhikari by 1,736 votes in Nandigram.
The TMC, however, did not accept the verdict as only a few minutes earlier Mamata Banerjee was reportedly declared victorious. A three-member TMC delegation rushed to the Returning Officer in Nandigram and sought a recount of the ballot papers. However, the request was turned down. Now, Mamata has said that she will move court against the Nandigram verdict.
Banerjee has also claimed that the Returning Officer had "written to someone" that his life would be under threat if he allows recounting. She has also hinted at foul play, saying that the server was down for four hours. "I received an SMS from someone wherein Returning Officer of Nandigram has written to someone if he allows recounting then his life would be under threat. For four hours server was down, Governor also congratulated me. Suddenly everything changed," she said.
Banerjee also appealed to people to maintain peace and not indulge in any violence. "We know BJP and Central Forces have tortured us a lot but we have to maintain peace. At present, we have fight COVID-19," she said. Her statement comes after four people, including two BJP workers, 1 TMC and 1 ISF worker, lost their lives in the post-poll violence in the state.
