Nandigram Counting "Fishy": Derek O'Brien On Mamata Banerjee's Defeat

Mamata Banerjee, after a cliff-hanger counting session through the day, was declared beaten by her aide-turned-rival Suvendu Adhikari.

The counting in Nandigram was 'fishy" and the Trinamool Congress is raising the issue with the Election Commission, senior party leader Derek O'Brien said today, pointing to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's defeat from the constituency that was at the heart of her party's resounding victory over the Left a decade ago. Ms Banerjee, after a cliff-hanger counting session through the day, was declared beaten by her aide-turned-rival Suvendu Adhikari. The margin of her defeat was a paltry 1,736 votes in the contest that was the centre-piece of the mammoth, eight-phase assembly election. "Something is fishy about Nandigram, don't you think? A party wins nearly three-fourths of all the seats in the state and the Chief Minister loses her seat - something very fishy went on in Nandigram. And we are on our way to the Election Commission as we speak to raise the issue," Mr O'Brien said in an interview to NDTV. The Election Commissioner has been "disgraceful and devious", added the senior leader. "We respect the institution of the Election Commission, but not the current people at the helm of affairs," he added.