Mamata Banerjee won Bhabanipur bypolls with help of fake votes: BJP MP
New Delhi [India], October 3 (ANI): After West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's victory in Bhabanipur bypolls, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Arjun Singh on Sunday said she won the seat with the help of fake votes.
Speaking to ANI, Singh said, "This was the first time that opponents were not allowed to campaign in the area of the chief minister. The opponents were attacked. The former state BJP president was beaten. Police stopped people to cast their votes. Police personnel gave votes by making fake voter IDs. Despite this fact, our candidate got around 26,000 votes. I would like to thank people for their support to BJP."
Asked about TMC chief Mamata Banerjee's statement that she registered a victory in every ward in Bhabanipur, the BJP MP said, "Where fake voters gave votes in the area of the chief minister, then how does it matter if one gets 50,000 votes or 80,000 votes. From officials to Election Commission, they made a nexus to facilitate fake votes. EC worked in a manipulated manner. The chief minister won with the help of fake votes," said.
After winning Bhabanipur bypolls with a record margin, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday said, "I have won the Bhabanipur Assembly bypolls with a margin of 58,832 votes and have registered the victory in every ward of the constituency. Around 46 per cent of people here (in Bhabanipur) are non-Bengalis. They all have voted for me. People of West Bengal are watching Bhabanipur, which has inspired me."
Bhabanipur gave its verdict for Banerjee as she won a resounding victory in the Assembly by-poll by a record margin of over 58,000 votes against her nearest rival Priyanka Tibrewal of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) thus making Banerjee a member of the state Legislative Assembly and will allow her to continue as Chief Minister of the West Bengal.
According to the Election Commission of India, Mamata Banerjee secured 85,263 votes which are around 71.90 per cent of the total votes connected in the bye-elections.
Banerjee's main competition, BJP candidate Priyanka Tibrewal got 26,428 votes and CPI (M) candidate Srijib Biswas secured 4,226 votes.
The win was crucial for Banerjee, as she has to secure a legislative assembly seat by the first week of November and continue as the Chief Minister of West Bengal.
Notably, Mamata Banerjee was defeated by BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari in the Nandigram constituency in the Assembly elections held earlier this year.
Following this, the Bhabanipur Assembly seat was vacated by the
West Bengal Agriculture Minister Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay in May, making way for West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to contest from Bhabanipur seat as a move to continue to hold her post.
BJP fielded 41-year-old Priyanka Tibrewal against the TMC chief.
A lawyer by profession, Tibrewal is the vice-president of the West Bengal unit of BJP Yuva Morcha. She is also the petitioner in the Calcutta High Court against the post-poll violence in the state. Notably, the High Court has ordered a CBI probe in violence in West Bengal after the Assembly elections.
The bypolls for the Bhabanipur Assembly constituency took place on September 30.
Trinamool Congress had registered a landslide victory in assembly polls winning 213 of 294 seats in the West Bengal assembly. The BJP won 77 seats. (ANI)
