Outgoing Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has suffered a surprising defeat in her Bhabanipur stronghold in the West Bengal Assembly elections. BJP leader Shuvendu Adhikari described his win as a “victory for Hindutva.”
According to a report by India Today, Adhikari claimed that Muslim voters largely supported Mamata Banerjee, while he secured votes from Hindus and other communities.
He said, “Muslims voted for Mamata openly. In Ward 77, most Muslim voters supported her. I won because Hindus, along with Sikhs, Jains and Buddhists, stood by me. This victory is essentially a victory of Hindutva.”
After the result, Adhikari added that defeating Mamata Banerjee was crucial and described it as a turning point in her political career.
He also said that voters from different communities, including Bengali Hindus, Gujaratis, Marwaris, Sikhs and people from eastern regions, supported him. Adhikari mentioned that India’s Home Minister Amit Shah had contacted him several times regarding the Bhabanipur contest, and he had expressed confidence in winning.
He described the result as a public verdict against what he called “misrule.”
This marks the second time Mamata Banerjee has lost to Shuvendu Adhikari, after her defeat in Nandigram during the 2021 Assembly elections.
Reacting to the loss, Mamata Banerjee termed the result an “immoral victory.” She alleged that the Election Commission and the BJP manipulated the process and claimed that more than 60,000 voter names were removed from the Bhabanipur electoral list. Despite the setback, she said she remains determined to continue her political fight.
