Cancel Suvendu Adhikari's Nomination, Trinamool Writes To Poll Body

Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress today urged the Election Commission to cancel Suvendu Adhikari's voter status from Nandigram, alleging that the BJP candidate had given false residence details without staying there. His nomination papers to contest the Bengal polls from Nandigram were also illegal because of the false details, the party said in a letter to the election body.

Suvendu Adhikari has a voter ID card in Haldia too, the Trinamool Congress said of its former top party leader who defected to the BJP in December and is now challenging Mamata Banerjee in Nandigram in the approaching Bengal election.

Mr Adhikari "has not resided in Nandanayakbar village of Nandigram over the past six months let alone being a permanent resident", the Trinamool Congress said in its letter to the Election Commission signed by senior leader Derek O'Brien.

Bengal's ruling party said only a person who is an "ordinary resident" can be registered as a voter of any constituency.

The letter said Mr Adhikari had filed for migration of his name from the electoral lists of Haldia to Nandigram using "false" residence details. But he is "not entitled to a migration" as that would be bad in law, the Trinamool said.

The Trinamool's complaint comes after Suvendu Adhikari on Monday made a similar demand for his former mentor Mamata Banerjee's nomination papers to be struck down. The Chief Minister's papers were illegal as she had failed to declare criminal cases against her correctly, the BJP leader said.

In a Facebook post, Mr Adhikari accused her of "suppression of facts", saying she had not mentioned six cases against her.

"Among the cases, five are in Assam of 2018 and a CBI FIR. She has moved to the Calcutta High Court for quashing of one FIR to the court of Justice Joymalya Bagchi. It was rejected. I have presented all information during scrutiny. The Election Commission will have to question it," he said in a video he posted on Facebook.

Seeking "justice" from the Election Commission, Mr Adhikari, however, added that the complaint is not the "final thing".

"The Election Commission will examine if those cases are pending. After they examine, I hope they will give justice according to law... If I don't get justice, I will take it forward," he said in the Facebook post.

Mamata Banerjee filed her nomination from Nandigram last week and Mr Adhikari, who won the seat in 2016 for her party, signed up as her BJP rival on Monday.

The battle for Nandigram -- which helped catapult the Trinamool Congress to power in 2011 -- has now become a pivotal contest of the Bengal polls starting March 27, in which the BJP has staked everything to try and defeat Mamata Banerjee.

The day she filed her nomination, Mamata Banerjee alleged that she had suffered injuries and blamed it on a conspiracy. She had been campaigning in a wheelchair, targeting the BJP, which accuses her of pulling a stunt.

The Election Commission said it was an accident and her security protocol was breached.