The Election Commission of India has rejected the demand by the Trinamool Congress for a recount of votes at Nandigram where Mamata Banerjee lost to the BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari. The Trinamool Congress on Sunday approached state Chief Electoral Officer Ariz Aftab demanding recounting of votes in Nandigram after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee lost from there against her one-time aide and BJP candidate Suvendu Adhkari in the ‘battle of prestige’ in East Midnapore district.
On Sunday evening, a Trinamool delegation led by its Rajya Sabha MP Derek O’ Brien, former Mayor Firhad Hakim, MP Kalyan Banerjee and Atin Ghosh met CEO Ariz Aftab and submitted a letter demanding recounting of votes. In the letter, the ruling party alleged that certain ‘preposterous’ and ‘illegal’ things have happened during the counting of votes in Nandigram for which it is demanding immediate recounting. The Returning Officer said that the result will be official declared after the VVPAT slips are tallied with the votes of the Electronic Voting Machines. Results declared in the evening on Sunday suggested that Mamata had lost the election by 1,736 votes. The Election Commission site earlier showed Suvendu Adhikari in the lead, however, around 10:30 pm, the chief minister appeared to had taken over him.
