Mamata Banerjee loses to Suvendu Adhikari in Nandigram, will move court

Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee today won a landslide victory in West Bengal but lost in Nandigram from where she contested against her once close aide, now Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Suvendu Adhikari.

There were several twists and turns during the counting process, with Banerjee and Adhikari both trailing and leading at different times. “I accept the verdict in Nandigram – it is not a big deal. Don’t worry,” said Banerjee, adding that she would move court over the “mischief”. At some point there was a possibility of re-counting, but Adhikari was then declared winner by 1,736 votes.

Earlier, the Trinamool had tweeted: “The counting process for Nandigram has not been completed. Please do not speculate.”

At a press conference, when the result was not conclusive but appeared to be going against Banerjee, she said: “Let the Nandigram people give whatever verdict they want, I accept that. We have won the state,” she said. “I will go to the court because I have heard there were some malpractices,” she said. She said that the Election Commission did not “believe” it when she had alleged on the day of polls that some booths were being captured.