Kolkata: Former chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday moved the Calcutta High Court challenging Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari's victory from the Bhowanipore constituency in the 2026 West Bengal assembly elections, citing a "reasonable likelihood of bias" by Election Commission officials. Adhikari won the seat by a margin of over 15,000 votes.
Mamata Accompanied by Senior Leaders
Mamata arrived at the high court accompanied by Trinamool Congress joint national secretaries Derek O'Brien and Dola Sen, senior lawyer and MP Kalyan Banerjee, and Beleghata MLA Kunal Ghosh. She did not speak to media personnel while entering or leaving the court premises.
Allegations of Bias and Irregularities
Kalyan Banerjee stated that the Trinamool chief came to affirm the election petition filed by her. He claimed: "After 12 rounds of counting, she and her election agent were beaten up and thrown out. The returning officer for Bhowanipore was the same person who served as the returning officer for Nandigram during the 2021 assembly polls. He was brought to Bhowanipore in 2026 and later made a deputy secretary to the chief minister. The chief electoral officer was appointed chief secretary immediately after the election. Several allegations have been raised against them, indicating a reasonable likelihood of bias."
Background of the Seat
Mamata had held the Bhowanipore seat since 2011 when the Trinamool Congress first came to power. In the 2026 state elections, Suvendu Adhikari wrested the seat by securing 73,917 votes against Mamata's 58,812. Mamata alleged that on counting day, she was attacked and the CCTV cameras at the counting centre were switched off. She further claimed that her party's agents were not allowed to enter the counting station.
Previous Election Petition
This is Mamata's second election petition in five years. On July 7, 2021, she had filed a petition challenging her loss to Suvendu in Nandigram by 1,956 votes. Justice Kausik Chanda had recused himself from hearing that petition due to a recusal plea filed by the Trinamool chief. As per court records, the case was last heard on December 1, 2021, by Justice Shampa Sarkar and adjourned till January 7, 2022, over "pendency of the transfer application before the apex court."
Plans for Multiple Petitions
A senior Trinamool MP said the party plans to file multiple petitions challenging the 2026 assembly results. "One of the first will be the BJP's Rajarhat win by 316 votes, which is the lowest margin in the 2026 state polls," the MP said.
Reaction from State Government
State junior parliamentary affairs minister Umesh Rai commented: "Mamata Banerjee never accepts any outcome that goes against her. In Nandigram, she lost the election. She had left Kolkata and gone to Nandigram to contest, but after losing, she claimed a power cut was used to defeat her and went to court. This time she lost the election in her stronghold. She does not have a single piece of evidence to support her allegations."
