Kolkata, May 24 (IANS) Following the BJP’s victory in the Falta Assembly bypoll, West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Sunday claimed that the “Diamond Harbour model” associated with Trinamool Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee had failed politically.

As soon as the election results became clear, Adhikari launched a sharp attack on the ruling Trinamool Congress.

The Falta Assembly constituency, which falls under the Diamond Harbour Lok Sabha seat, had long been considered a Trinamool Congress stronghold. However, after the change in the political equation following the bypoll, the BJP managed to wrest the seat from the ruling party with a massive margin.

Suvendu Adhikari wrote on his X handle: “I am especially grateful to the voters of Falta. I had appealed for the BJP candidate to win by one lakh votes. The margin of victory has crossed one lakh eight thousand. We will repay this debt to you through development.”

He further stated: “A party without principles and ideals, which transformed itself into a mafia company, has been exposed the moment it lost power. The leaders of this party took people for granted by abusing state power, looting government funds, extorting people’s hard-earned money, and running syndicates and a threat culture. This time, when people regained the freedom to cast their own votes after 15 years, the true picture emerged. A tough fight against ‘NOTA’ awaits the Trinamool Congress leadership in the coming elections.”

Abhishek Banerjee, meanwhile, questioned the counting process in the Falta Assembly bypoll. In a post on X, Banerjee said: “The Falta AC repoll counting today exposes glaring inconsistencies. By 3.30 p.m. today, all 21 rounds were completed. On May 4, till the same time, only two to four rounds had taken place. The country deserves an explanation from the ECI. Although more than 1,000 workers from Falta have been forced to flee their homes in the last 10 days, the Election Commission continued to turn a blind eye. Party offices were vandalised in broad daylight even when the Model Code of Conduct was in force.”

He also criticised the Election Commission over its conduct during the West Bengal Assembly bypoll process and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise relating to Bengal’s electoral rolls.

“The Election Commission has taken no action. Instead, the CEO, who was allegedly used by the ECI to delete names under the guise of SIR and manipulate the electoral process, was appointed Chief Secretary of the new WB government at a time when the Model Code of Conduct was still in force in Falta and the polling process had not even been completed,” he alleged.

The Trinamool Congress leader further said: “Even more worrying, counting agents of Trinamool and other political parties, except the BJP, were allegedly thrown out of the venue on May 4 by officials and central forces deployed under the Election Commission of India. This is deeply alarming and strikes at the heart of free and fair elections. Unless compromised officials are held accountable and an independent CCTV audit of the counting process is conducted, questions over the credibility of the mandate will only grow stronger. The truth cannot be suppressed forever!”

–IANS

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