WB CM Mamata Banerjee's Petition Challenging Suvendu Adhikari's Nandigram Win To Be Heard In Calcutta HC Today

Suvendu Adhikari had switched to the Bharatiya Janata Party last year, and post his win, became the Leader of Opposition in the Bengal assembly.

File Photo

Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had filed a petition at the Calcutta High Court, challenging the election result at the Nandigram Assembly constituency.

Locked in a prestigious battle with Suvendu Adhikari for the prized seat in the East Midnapore district, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee lost narrowly to her once key lieutenant.

A Calcutta High Court bench of Justice Kaushik Chandra had earlier deferred the hearing on June 24.

Adhikari had won the Nandigram seat by 1,956 votes, leading Mamata to face her first electoral loss in 32 years.

The close aide of CM Mamata had switched to the Bharatiya Janata Party last year, and post his win, became the Leader of Opposition in the Bengal assembly.

On the other hand, TMC raised apprehensions about a single-member bench of the Calcutta High Court that has been constituted to hear West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's election petition.

Levelling allegations of political bias against High Court Justice Kaushik Chanda who is hearing the petition. TMC released photographs of Chanda on social media with West Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh and questioned the decision to assign

Banerjee's petition to "someone with links to the BJP".

Alleging that the judge in question has been the BJP's counsel in multiple cases, TMC MP Mahua Moitra tweeted, "MiLord- get a conscience or at least a better veil! Mamata di's Nandigaram petition listed before Justice Kaushik Chandra, member of BJP's legal cell and BJP lawyer in numerous appearances. Save our judiciary! (sic)"

"Matters where Justice Kaushik Chanda has appeared for the Bharatiya Janata Party before the Calcutta High Court. And now, he has been assigned to hear the Nandigram election case. One big coincidence?" asked Rajya Sabha MP and senior TMC leader Derek O'Brien.

Nandigram is a small town located in the Purba Medinipur district of Bengal. The area saw violent agitation in 2007 against land dispute by the Left-ruled government for industrial purposes. This led to the killing of 14 people in a police firing and resulted in a mass upsurge against the Marxist rule.

Mamata Banerjee then turned Nandigram into a symbol of her three-decade-old fierce battle against the Left, and, in particular, against its last chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya. In 2011, curtains were drawn on the 34-year-old Marxist rule.

In Mamata Banerjee vs Suvendu Adhikary, the election petition listed for hearing before Justice Kausik Chandra.

Along with the case, she had filed a petition seeking the transfer of the case from this bench. The application being no GA 1 /2021 was listed for hearing.

In this petition, it was pleaded in the bench that she apprehends if she will get proper justice from this bench.

The petition prayed for the transfer of the case from this bench.