The counting of votes for the Nandigram by-elections is underway by the Election Commission of India. As per early trends, Hasirani Rath, the candidate fielded by the BJP is in the lead.
The seat fell vacant after Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, who won from both Nandigram and Bhabanipur, retained the latter. An official count from the poll body is yet to be announced. Soon after Dey resigned, Banerjee announced that the Mamata-AITC led by her would support Milan Pradhan, the Congress candidate in Nandigram.
Based on the early trends, BJP candidate Hasirani Rath is currently in the lead for the Nandigram seat, as per local sources. Nandigram, which is in West Bengal’s East Midnapore, went to the polls on October 6 and saw a turnout of 80.89 per cent.
West Bengal witnessed high political drama in the run-up to the by-polls in which Sanchita Pradhan Dey, the candidate fielded by Mamata Banerjee in Nandigram, withdrew her nomination hours after meeting West Bengal chief minister Suvendu Adhikari. The Nandigram bypoll is among the first electoral battle in West Bengal after the Bharatiya Janata Party came to power in May this year with a sweeping victory ousting the 15-year-old Mamata Banerjee-regime, and the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) split in two three factions.
