Kolkata: Claiming that she had been defeated by force, Mamata Banerjee alleged that the election process was manipulated and votes were looted by the BJP. She said she had also been assaulted, but asserted that they would return again.
She made the remarks on Monday evening after spending nearly five hours inside the Sakhawat Memorial High School counting centre, as trends showed her trailing in Bhowanipore by more than 10,994 votes after the 18th round of counting. She finally lost to BJP's Suvendu Adhikari by 15,105 votes.
Bhowanipore turned into the centrestage of Bengal's political battlefield on Monday, as a knife-edge contest between Banerjee and Adhikari spiralled into high drama, allegations and street-level confrontation, even as counting trends swung wildly through the day.
Early trends favoured Adhikari, who surged ahead in the opening rounds. But after the third round, Banerjee bounced back and established her dominance by the seventh round, at one point leading by more than 19,000 votes — triggering murmurs that the contest might tilt decisively in her favour.
That perception, however, proved short-lived. Adhikari, claiming that Banerjee's surge was driven by votes from minority-dominated Ward 77, mounted a rapid comeback. By the 12th round, the gap had shrunk to just more than 7,000 votes and later tightened further to around 5,300, setting the stage for a nail-biting finish that echoed the intensity of their 2021 face-off, where Banerjee lost to her nemesis in Nandigram.
"We have waited years for this moment. People have voted for change and you can see that energy on the streets today," said Kamal Jindal, a BJP supporter near the counting centre, who was found distributing sweets at Theatre Road. Another supporter, Nikita Agarwal, added, "This is not just a victory, it is a message. Bengal wanted development and today that voice was finally heard."
Tension exploded further as Trinamool raised allegations that midway through the counting BJP assaulted their counting agents and pushed them out. Banerjee, who appealed to her workers to "fight like a tiger cub" and not to leave the counting tables till sunset, rushed to the counting venue.
As her convoy reached around 3.30 pm, BJP supporters erupted in chants of "thief, thief" and "go back," turning the stretch into a cauldron of hostility. Adhikari reached the venue at the same time. Trinamool national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, too, reached the venue, where BJP supporters allegedly spat towards him and hurled abuses at him before he was forced to move out.
Mamata stayed at the venue till 8 pm before she was escorted out by central forces. As she came out, she alleged she was pushed and assaulted by BJP and central forces and claimed BJP looted more than 100 seats. She, however, claimed her party would come back to power again.
As all major MLAs lost on Monday, Trinamool offices fell silent across the city, leaving party workers disoriented and speechless. The morning opened with unusually thin attendance at party units. At Bijoygarh, only four workers sat inside the office, eyes fixed on a television screen. A similar stillness marked the Sadananda Road unit, where three women workers stood outside, watching updates. Their faces reflected disbelief more than anger.
"We have nothing to say. We don't have words," said one worker, slowly unpinning the party symbol from his shirt. He folded a party flag carefully and tucked it into his pocket before leaving on his motorcycle.
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