Mamata Banerjee led the Trinamool Congress to a landslide victory in the West Bengal assembly election 2021, defeating the BJP war machine. The mercurial leader, however, lost by 1,956 votes in Nandigram to former protege-turned-BJP adversary Suvendu Adhikari.
The election result in Nandigram was declared after flip-flops. Early in the day, news reports suggested that Banerjee had won the seat by a slim margin of 1,200 votes. Subsequently, reports said that Adhikari had won the seat.
Read: Mamata Banerjee keeps BJP at bay in Bengal, but loses Nandigram to Suvendu Adhikari
The confusion was settled only after the returning officer declared the results following the final vote count. While Adhikari bagged 1,10,764 votes, Banerjee polled 1,08,808 votes, the poll panel confirmed.
While Adhikari thanked the people of Nandigram for voting in his favour, the TMC has demanded recounting, alleging illegal incidents during the counting.
Can Didi become CM after losing Nandigram?
Despite facing defeat in the only constituency she contested on, Banerjee is set to take oath as the Chief Minister of West Bengal for the third consecutive term.
Assembly Election Result 2021 LIVE Updates
Article 164(4) of the Indian Constitution says, "A Minister who for any period of six consecutive months is not a member of the Legislature of the State shall at the expiration of that period cease to be a Minister."
Put simply, Banerjee has six months to get elected from any Bengal constituency in a by-poll to continue as the CM.
Notably, in 2011, when Banerjee became the CM for the first time, she was a member of Parliament and had not contested the assembly elections. She was later elected from Bhawanipur.
What if she fails to win by-polls?
While such a scenario is rare, it is possible.
In 2009, Jharkhand Chief Minister Shibu Soren lost the assembly election as well as the by-election. This led to the imposition of the President's rule in the state.
West Bengal Election 2021 | A list of key candidates who won or lost
If Banerjee fails to win the by-polls, she will have to step down as Chief Minister.
Conceding defeat in Nandigram, Banerjee said she had accepted the verdict of the people. "I accept the verdict. But I will move court because I have information that after the declaration of results there were some manipulations done and I will reveal those," she said.
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