Bhawanipore bypoll where Mamata Banerjee is contesting won’t be cancelled, says Calcutta High Court

Bypoll scheduled on Sept 30.

The byelection in Bhawanipore Assembly constituency, where West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is a contestant, won’t be cancelled and will be held on Thursday, the Calcutta High Court said on Tuesday. A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) had been filed, questioning the Election Commission’s contention of a “constitutional exigency” for holding by-election in this seat.

The bypoll is being held as Trinamool MLA Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay resigned from the seat for Mamata Banerjee to contest from it. She had lost from the Nandigram seat in the 2021 Assembly election to BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari by close margin, a result that she has contested and the matter is now in the court. According to the Constitution, a person chosen as chief minister must win from an Assembly seat within six months of the swearing in.

Banerjee has been MLA from Bhawanipore in 2011 and 2016. This time, for the byelection, BJP has fielded Priyanka Tibrewal, a Calcutta High Court lawyer.

Results for the bypolls – also being held in two other seats of Bengal – will be out on October 3.

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