Kolkata, June 22 (IANS) In a significant development within the crisis-hit Trinamool Congress, an overwhelming majority of the party’s defeated candidates in the recently concluded West Bengal Assembly elections have opted not to challenge the results in court, effectively accepting the people’s mandate despite repeated calls from party supremo Mamata Banerjee to pursue legal remedies.

According to available records, 203 of the 211 defeated TMC candidates, accounting for 96.20 per cent, have not filed election petitions before the Calcutta High Court seeking to overturn their losses.

So far, only eight election petitions have been filed by TMC leaders. One of them has been filed by Banerjee herself, challenging her defeat from the Bhabanipur Assembly constituency in south Kolkata.

The TMC supremo lost the seat to current Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari by a margin of more than 15,000 votes, making it one of the most closely watched contests of the election.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which emerged as the dominant force in the polls by winning 202 of the state’s 294 Assembly seats, has filed six election petitions at the Calcutta High Court.

With eight petitions from the TMC and six from the BJP, the total number of election-related challenges filed in connection with the Assembly polls currently stands at 14.

In the election, the TMC contested 291 constituencies, leaving the three hill seats of Darjeeling, Kurseong, and Kalimpong to its ally, the Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha (BGPM), founded by Anit Thapa.

Of the 291 constituencies contested by the TMC, the party won only 88 seats and suffered defeat in 203. Besides the BJP’s sweeping performance, the Congress and the Aam Janata Unnayan Party, founded by Humayun Kabir, secured two seats each. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the All India Secular Front (AISF) won one seat apiece.

A senior TMC insider, speaking on condition of anonymity, said most defeated candidates have avoided legal battles because they lack substantial evidence to support allegations of electoral irregularities.

A senior TMC leader, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that most of the defeated party candidates had decided against filing election petitions in court as they lacked sufficient evidence to substantiate allegations of electoral irregularities.

–IANS

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