West Bengal assembly polls: Trinamool Congress demands recount in Nandigram

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. File pic

The Trinamool Congress has demanded recounting in Nandigram constituency from which Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had stood, alleging a number of illegalities in the vote counting process.

According to unofficial sources, Banerjee lost the Nandigram assembly elections to BJP candidate and her former lieutenant Suvendu Adhikari by around 1,700 votes. However, Election Commission could not confirm the result.

The TMC has written to the CEO requesting an immediate recounting of votes, party sources said, alleging "tampering and mismanagement of numbers from the EVM and said that the counting process was stalled from time to time and was not reported by the poll panel.

The party in its letter to the CEO also alleged that valid votes in favour of Banerjee were rejected while invalid votes for the BJP were counted. The TMC also described the refusal of the Returning Officer to conduct recounting of the votes as "bad in law and coloured".

"We are looking into the matter. A decision will be taken soon," an official said. Meanwhile, Suvendu Adhikari took to Twitter to thank the people for voting in his favour and choosing him as their representative.

"My sincere thanks to the great People of Nandigram for their love, trust, blessings, and support, and for choosing me as their representative and the MLA from #Nandigram. It is my never-ending commitment to be of service to them and working for their welfare. I am truly grateful!," Adhikari tweeted.

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