Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress has recprded a thumping victory in the Bengal Assembly elections. However, the party supremo herself has lost from her constituency.
Mamata was beaten by 1,956 votes in the hotly contested Nandigram constituency by turncoat Suvendu Adhikari (BJP). The incumbent CM got 1,07,937 votes while Adhikari got 1,09,673 votes. CPI(M) candidate Minakshi Mukherjee is at a distant third with 6,198 votes.
Her defeat has raised the question: Can she become the chief minister of Bengal for a third consecutive time despite losing in her seat?
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The answer is, yes, she can. Article 164(4) of the Indian Constitution says, "A Minister who for any period of six consecutive months is not a member of the Legislature of the State shall at the expiration of that period cease to be a Minister."
Within six months after taking oath as chief minister, Mamata will have to win from any constituency in the state in a bypoll. If she fails to win, she will have to step down from the post.
Notably, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had also faced a similar situation after taking oath in November 2019.
In 2011, when Mamata became the chief minister after TMC secured a landslide victory in the Assembly elections, she was a member of Parliament and did not contest the Assembly elections. A few months later, she got elected from the Bhawanipore constituency, which is considered to be her fortress.
Mamata Banerjee alleges cheating
Mamata has alleged mischief in the counting process of Nandigram votes and said she will move court in this regard.
“While the entire state has given one mandate, can it happen that one constituency will give another mandate? Is it possible? It is not. They stopped the server for about three hours and announced the winner (Mamata) and then they said something else. So some cheating is going on. We will file a court case and fight for that,” Mamata told journalists after ECI declared Adhikari the winner.