Most defeated TMC candidates ignore Mamata’s court challenge call

In a telling sign of the challenges facing the Trinamool Congress after its crushing defeat in the West Bengal assembly elections, an overwhelming majority of the party's losing candidates have chosen not to challenge the poll results in court, despite repeated appeals from party chief Mamata Banerjee to pursue legal action.

Records available with the Calcutta High Court show that 203 of the 211 defeated Trinamool Congress candidates — more than 96 per cent — have refrained from filing election petitions seeking to overturn their losses, effectively accepting the verdict delivered by voters.

So far, only eight election petitions have been filed by TMC leaders. One of those has been filed by Banerjee herself, who has challenged her defeat in the high-profile Bhabanipur constituency in south Kolkata.

The former chief minister lost the seat to current chief minister Suvendu Adhikari by a margin of more than 15,000 votes, in what emerged as one of the most closely watched contests of the election.

The limited number of legal challenges stands in sharp contrast to Banerjee's public assertions following the election, when she repeatedly questioned aspects of the electoral process and encouraged defeated candidates to explore legal remedies.

However, party insiders suggest that most candidates have concluded that a courtroom battle would be difficult to sustain.

"A majority of the defeated candidates have decided against filing election petitions because they do not possess sufficient evidence to substantiate allegations of electoral irregularities," a senior TMC leader said on condition of anonymity.

The reluctance of defeated candidates to approach the courts is being interpreted by political observers as an implicit acknowledgement of the scale of the party's electoral setback.

The Bharatiya Janata Party, which swept to power with a commanding victory, has filed six election petitions of its own. With eight petitions from the TMC and six from the BJP, the total number of election-related challenges currently before the Calcutta High Court stands at 14.

The election dramatically altered West Bengal's political landscape. Of the 291 seats contested by the TMC, the party managed to win only 88, while suffering defeats in 203 constituencies. The remaining three seats were left to its ally, the Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha (BGPM), in the Darjeeling hills.

The BJP emerged as the dominant political force, winning 202 of the state's 294 assembly seats and ending the TMC's long hold on power.

Other parties also secured representation in the assembly. The Congress and Humayun Kabir's Aam Janata Unnayan Party won two seats each, while the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the All India Secular Front secured one seat apiece.

Political observers say the low number of election petitions highlights the difficult position confronting the Trinamool Congress as it seeks to regroup after its worst electoral performance in years.

While the party leadership continues to raise questions about aspects of the election, the decision by most defeated candidates not to pursue legal challenges suggests that many within the organisation may have already reconciled themselves to the electorate's verdict.

At a time when the TMC is battling internal dissent, defections and questions about its future direction, the reluctance of its defeated candidates to contest the results in court underscores the scale of the political rebuilding task confronting Mamata Banerjee and her party.

With IANS inputs