Mamata Vs Suvendu: Calcutta HC Defers Nandigram Counting Hearing, Scheduled For Next Week

Even though the Trinamool Congress won its consecutive third term, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is up against the former TMC big-shot turncoat and BJP candidate from Nandigram Suvendu Adhikari.

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Kolkata: The hearing of the Election Petition filed by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee challenging Suvendu Adhikari’s election win from the Nandigram constituency has been deferred to 24th June. The matter was scheduled to be heard today at 11 am by the Bench of Justice Kaushik Chandra at Calcutta High Court.

“Let the matter be listed next Thursday. In the meantime Registrar shall file a report before this court as to whether the petition has been filed in conformity with provisions of Representation of People Act,’ The Calcutta High Court directed in its Friday order.

After the court began hearing on Friday, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s counsel Soumendra Nath requested the hearing to be deferred to next week. 

As quoted by Bar & Bench, Counsel Soumendra Nath Mukherjee said, "keep it next week for directions after it is admitted". The court accepted the request, which resulted in the deferring of the hearing to 24th June 2021.

Even though the Trinamool Congress won its consecutive third term, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is up against the former TMC big-shot turncoat and BJP candidate from Nandigram Suvendu Adhikari.

Mamata Banerjee lost to her former aid Suvendu by a narrow margin of 1,956 votes. The TMC supremo, after a day the election results on 3rd May, had announced that she would move to the court seeking an answer to the alleged ‘tamper’ in vote count in Nandigram.

“We will move court. Our party workers are also staging a protest. We want a written statement from the Election Commission of India [EC] that the EVM machine, VVPAT, and postal ballots will be kept separately so that they are not tampered with. And if found tampered with, they will have to undergo forensic tests,” Banerjee had said.