In a major development in West bengal Elections, Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee has lost her Bhabanipur stronghold to Bharatiya Janata Party's Suvendu Adhikari by a margin of over 15,100 votes.
Suvendu collected his winnming certificate on Monday and said that the Muslims voted for Mamata Banerjee and Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, and Buddhists had casted their votes for him. BJP's candidate also said that he is waiting for his Nandigram certificate.
"This was very important. Defeating Mamata Banerjee was crucial. This is Mamata Banerjee's retirement from politics... This time, too, she lost by over 15,000 votes. Muslims voted for her openly. In Ward No 77, all the Muslims who came out to vote voted for Mamata, and Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, and Buddhists blessed me and made me win. This victory is a victory for Hindutva... All the CPM's strong supporters voted for me. The CPM had 13,000 votes in Bhawanipur, and at least 10,000 of them were transferred to me," he said.
"I also express my gratitude to the CPM voters down there. All the Bengali Hindus voted openly for me. Along with them, Gujaratis, Jains, Marwaris, Purvanchalis, and the Sikh community all voted openly for me… Amit Shah called me two or three times. He also expressed some concern about Bhabanipur. I told him a while ago. I haven't spoken with anyone else. I wasn't allowed to use the phone, so I didn't speak. I'm going to tell him now. He's waiting. I also need to get the Nandigram certificate," he added.
Adhikari, who emerged as a giant-killer in the 2021 Assembly elections by narrowly defeating Banerjee in Nandigram, has once again delivered a significant blow to the TMC leadership. Bhabanipur, long considered a Trinamool bastion, had turned into a high-stakes prestige battle this time.
In the 2021 Assembly polls, Sovandeb Chattopadhyay had won the seat by defeating BJP’s Rudranil Ghosh. He later vacated the constituency, paving the way for Banerjee to secure victory in a bypoll against Priyanka Tibrewal.
Meanwhile, in Nandigram, Suvendu also won the Nandigram seat, defeated TMC's Pabitra Kar by 9,665 votes.
