Nandigram loss: ECI rejects call for recount

A TMC delegation also met chief electoral officer Aariz Aftab to ask for a recount of votes in Nandigram, where Mamata Banerjee lost to BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari by a slim margin, but ECI rejected the request.

KOLKATA: East Midnapore district’s Nandigram — where chief minister Mamata Banerjee contested against her protégé-turned-adversary Suvendu Adhikari — emerged as the biggest head-turner among all the seats in West Bengal on Sunday, after Banerjee was defeated by 1,956 votes.

TMC demanded a recount, but the EC rejected this request. “We accept the people’s verdict, but we will move the court against the EC as there were many irregularities during the counting... The verdict does not match the voting pattern in adjacent constituencies and the rest of Bengal,” Banerjee said.

The ECI did not respond to requests for comment.

Adhikari was unavailable for comment. Jay Prakash Majumdar, the state BJP vice-president said, “He put up a brave fight. We congratulate him.”