NEW DELHI, July 14: The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday admitted a petition by the West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee challenging the election of her BJP rival Suvendu Adhikari in Nandigram state Assembly constituency and directed the Election Commission of India to preserve the election records.
Justice Shampa Sarkar directed that Banerjee’s election petition would be taken up for hearing on August 12. The judge directed that in the meantime, notices be served upon Adhikari, presently the leader of the opposition in the state Assembly, and other parties in the matter.
Justice Sarkar held that as per a report received by her bench from the high court administration, the election petition was filed in compliance with the provisions of the Representation of the People Act. The court also directed the Election Commission to preserve all records and devices related to the polls in Nandigram.
The matter was reassigned to the bench of Justice Sarkar by Acting Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal after Justice Kausik Chanda recused himself from hearing the Trinamool Congress chief’s petition. As per the result declared by the Election Commission on May 2, Adhikari defeated Banerjee by a margin of 1,956 votes.
Meanwhile, a delegation of the Trinamool Congress is scheduled to meet the ECI officials on Thursday demanding holding of the by-elections to seven vacant state Assembly constituencies. Banerjee herself need to get elected by November to continue to stay in the office.
(Manas Dasgupta)