The Statesman/ANN: In a stunning political upset in the heart of Kolkata, Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress Supremo Mamata Banerjee suffered a high-profile defeat in the Bhabanipur Assembly constituency, losing to Suvendu Adhikari of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) by 15,114 votes.
Exactly five years after handing Banerjee a bitter loss in Nandigram, Adhikari has repeated the feat, this time in her home turf. Bhabanipur, often described as a “Mini-India” for its diverse electorate, had been seen as a prestige contest, particularly as Banerjee resides in Kalighat, within the constituency, where she first started politics as a Youth Congress leader.
The contest in Bhabanipur witnessed dramatic swings throughout Monday’s counting.
Adhikari took an early lead with postal ballots, but Banerjee soon closed the gap and surged ahead by the seventh round.
At one stage, she was leading by more than 19,000 votes, appearing to have the upper hand. However, the tide turned sharply as counting progressed.
By early evening, her lead had narrowed to under 3,000 votes, and by 9 pm, Adhikari had established a commanding advantage of over 11,000 votes.
The final tally confirmed his victory by a margin that exceeded 15,000 votes.
Adhikari, who also won from Nandigram and now holds two seats, struck a pointed note after emerging from the counting centre in the Hastings area of the city.
“Bhabanipur Muslims have not voted for me. The Bengalis, Hindus, Sikhs, Gujarati, Marwadis have cast their votes and helped me secure this victory. The youth supporters of the Left have also voted for me here. I am going to Haldia to collect my certificate for my Nandigram victory. Muslims have voted for Hijab-wearing Mamata,” Adhikari said.
Mamata on the other hand alleged that she was pushed out the counting centre in Sekhawat Memorial School.
“They have looted votes. They have assaulted me inside the counting centre. I was pushed out. They have looted votes in at least 100 seats. I ak confident we will make a comeback,” Banerjee said.
