Mamata Banerjee alleged CCTV cameras were installed in advance and the snack was brought from home - calling PM Modi's Jhargram jhal muri stop a carefully arranged campaign prop.
In the 2021 Assembly elections, Suvendu Adhikari defeated Mamata in a direct contest in Nandigram by a slender margin of 1,956 votes, securing 1,10,764 votes against her 1,08,808.
In an apparent reference to a controversy involving former TMC leader Humayun Kabir, Banerjee accused the BJP of trying to split minority votes, while also claiming that the party was fuelling divisions between communities.
West Bengal CM asserted that her government would take legal steps to ensure that all affected voters are restored to the rolls.
Banerjee accused the BJP of branding Bengali-speaking people as infiltrators while claiming the party itself was the “biggest infiltrator” during elections.
In the 2016 Assembly elections, BJP had a 10% vote share and won 3 seats. In 2021, the party’s vote share climbed to 38%, translating into 77 seats.
The BJP leader reiterated his allegations of a dual policy, stating that citizens often have to approach the High Court for organising pujas or setting up pandals, particularly during major festivals like Durga Puja.
Trinamool Congress has formally approached the Election Commission, objecting to the appointment of Surajit Roy as the Returning Officer for the Bhabanipur constituency.
In a significant move, the party has dropped the sitting MLA Neeraj Zimba, a two-time winner from Darjeeling who had originally been elected on a BJP ticket belonging to the GNLF.
Mamata claimed that the BJP’s seat tally would drop compared to the previous election, while the TMC would secure more than 226 seats.
