BJP sweeps election to cooperative body in Nandigram
In a huge blow to Mamata Banerjee, the BJP has swept the election to a cooperative body in Nandigram, a former Trinamool Congress stronghold where the Bengal Chief Minister was defeated in 2021.
The BJP has won 11 of the 12 seats of the cooperative body Bhekutia Samabay Krishi Samity, which was earlier run by Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool. Only one seat went to the Trinamool in the election held on Sunday.
Both parties accused each other of violence in the polls. The BJP accused the Trinamool of trying to bring in outsiders to disrupt voting.
According to news agency PTI, a local panchayat samiti member, who said he belonged to the Trinamool, was seen on TV channels being manhandled by some women, who tore his shirt. He was rescued by the police.
Nandigram is the constituency of Suvendu Adhikari, Mamata Banerjee’s former aide, who ditched the Trinamool and joined the BJP months before the 2021 Bengal election.