Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court adjourned Friday the hearing to June 24 in West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s petition challenging the election of Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari from Nandigram. The matter was mentioned by Mamata Banerjee’s lawyer before the court of Justice Kaushik Chanda as per the list for hearing.
Justice Chanda asked the petitioner’s lawyer to serve copies of the election petition to the opposite parties and fixed the matter for hearing Thursday.
In her petition, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief accused BJP MLA Adhikari of committing corrupt practises as envisaged under Section 123 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951. Banerjee also claimed in the petition that discrepancies were committed in the counting process.
Also read: Suvendu Adhikari wins Nandigram, Mamata Banerjee says it doesn’t matter
It should be stated here that Adhikari managed to defeat Mamata Banerjee by a slender margin of a little over 1,000 votes. This happened after Banerjee had established a lead of more than 8,000 votes before the final round of counting. Adhikari, a former protégé of Banerjee defeated the Trinamool Congress heavyweight from the Nandigram constituency. The West Bengal elections were held in eight phases and the counting took place May 2.
Immediately after the results were announced, Banerjee had told mediapersons that she would move court as she felt various malpractices were adopted during counting. She also pointed out that all connections with the counting centre in Haldia remained cut for more than three hours.
It should be stated here that Banerjee will be seeking re-election from the Bhwanipore Assembly constituency in Kolkata very shortly.
