Suvendu asked to respond by Thursday to petition challenging his election

• Mamata Banerjee filed an election petition challenging Suvendu Adhikari’s election

• The post-poll appointment of CEO, West Bengal and advisor to the CEO as chief secretary and advisor to CM referred in the petition

• Justice Gaurang Kanth in August had allowed Adhikari three weeks to respond

West Bengal chief minister Suvendu Adhikari has been asked to file his written submission before the Calcutta High Court in response to allegations made in an election petition filed by former chief minister Mamata Banerjee challenging his election from the Bhabanipur assembly constituency in May 2026.

Adhikari had earlier sought time to respond, and in August, a single-judge bench of the Calcutta High Court, presided over by justice Gaurang Kanth, granted him three weeks to file his reply. He has now been directed to submit it by Thursday, 1 October.

Adhikari, the BJP candidate, defeated Banerjee, the Trinamool Congress candidate, in the April 2026 assembly election by 15,105 votes. Election Commission figures show that Adhikari secured 73,917 votes, while Banerjee polled 58,812 votes.

Banerjee subsequently moved an election petition challenging Adhikari’s election. Her petition alleges, among other things, illegal deletion of voters, irregularities in the counting process and non-compliance with provisions governing elections. The petition also alleges that the alleged irregularities materially affected the result. The petition also refers to the chief electoral officer of West Bengal, Manoj Agarwal, and special advisor to the CEO, Subrata Gupta, a retired IAS officer, appointed as the chief secretary and advisor to the CM immediately after the election.

Mamata Banerjee alleged that she was assaulted when she went to the Bhabanipur counting centre and was prevented from entering. “I was assaulted inside the counting centre. They hit me in my belly and on my back. I was not allowed to enter. My agent was also not allowed to enter,” she said. She also alleged that the BJP and the Election Commission had played a “dirty game” and claimed that votes had been manipulated.

One of the central issues raised by Banerjee's legal team concerns the counting process at Sakhawat Memorial Government Girls' School in Kolkata, where the votes were counted on 4 May.

Senior advocate Kalyan Banerjee has alleged that serious problems arose after several rounds of counting. He claimed that Trinamool counting agents were removed from the counting hall and that Banerjee herself was prevented from entering the centre.

Representing Mamata Banerjee before the Calcutta High Court, senior advocate Kalyan Banerjee questioned what happened during the later stages of counting. Referring to the position after the 12th round, he told the court, “The petitioner was leading by 7,800 (votes) in round 12.” He then alleged that Suvendu Adhikari entered the counting hall during the 13th round and that opposition agents were forced out. “From the 13th round onwards, an unimaginable thing happened,” Kalyan told the court, arguing that the CCTV footage could help establish what happened inside the counting centre.

The Election Commission rejected allegations of malpractice and disputed Banerjee's account of events inside the counting centre. In a statement issued through the district election authorities, it said, “The counting process was done in a free, fair and transparent manner observing all due processes prescribed by the Election Commission of India and mandated Acts, Rules and Regulations.” The authorities also rejected the allegation that the CCTV cameras had been switched off, stating, “The CCTV was never switched off.”

The high court, however, has taken steps to ensure that potentially relevant evidence is not lost. In June, Justice Kanth directed the authorities to preserve CCTV footage from the counting centre as well as the EVMs, control units, ballot units and VVPAT machines used across the constituency. The judge observed that CCTV footage could be lost through routine overwriting and that the machines could constitute material evidence in the election dispute.

The proceedings have meanwhile moved into a crucial stage with Adhikari's response now due. His written statement is expected to address the allegations made by Banerjee and provide the BJP leader's account of the disputed events surrounding the counting process.

The case is therefore likely to turn increasingly on documentary and electronic evidence, particularly the preserved CCTV footage, EVM and VVPAT records and other election documents.

For the moment, the Election Commission's declared result remains in force, with Adhikari recorded as the winner of Bhabanipur. Whether the alleged irregularities, if proved, were sufficient to affect the result is a matter that remains before the high court.