Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has filed an election petition before the Calcutta High Court praying for declaring the election of Suvendu Adhikari from Nandigram as null and void, and the matter has been listed for hearing on Friday.
As per the ’cause list’ released by the high court on its website on Thursday, the matter is scheduled to be taken up via video conference before the court of Justice Kausik Chanda as “to be mentioned”.
The Trinamool Congress supremo, in her petition, has accused Adhikari of committing corrupt practises as envisaged under Section 123 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.
The alleged corrupt practices included “bribery, undue influence, spreading enmity”, according to her petition.
Banerjee also claimed in her plea that discrepancies were committed in the counting process.
The Election Commission had declared Adhikari the winner and the Trinamool Congress supremo the runner-up in the fiercely contested election for the Nandigram constituency.
Alleging discrepancies and malpractices in the counting process and refusal of requests for recounting of votes by the returning officer, Banerjee had said following declaration of the results that the doors of the court would be knocked on the issue.
BJP MLA Suvendu Adhikari is at present the leader of the opposition in the West Bengal assembly.
Subscribe to our channels on YouTube & Telegram
Why news media is in crisis & How you can fix it
India needs free, fair, non-hyphenated and questioning journalism even more as it faces multiple crises.
But the news media is in a crisis of its own. There have been brutal layoffs and pay-cuts. The best of journalism is shrinking, yielding to crude prime-time spectacle.
ThePrint has the finest young reporters, columnists and editors working for it. Sustaining journalism of this quality needs smart and thinking people like you to pay for it. Whether you live in India or overseas, you can do it here.