TMC’s election victory in Diamond Harbor by a margin of 7 lakhs is organized fraud: BJP

Kolkata, October 19 (IANS). The BJP on Sunday alleged that the Trinamool Congress’ victory from West Bengal’s Diamond Harbor Lok Sabha constituency in the 2024 elections was the result of ‘corruption’. TMC was successful in winning this seat in South 24 Parganas district with a huge margin of votes. In the Lok Sabha elections last year, Trinamool Congress general secretary Abhishek Banerjee was elected from Diamond Harbor for the second consecutive time by defeating Abhijit Das alias Bobby of the BJP by a margin of 7,10,930 votes. Amit Malviya, head of the BJP’s information technology cell and the party’s central observer in West Bengal, made a post on social media in the morning justifying his claim that this “record” margin from Diamond Harbor was the result of organized vote looting. In justification of his argument, Malviya cited a recent television channel interview of Swapan Mandal, general secretary of the CAA Aikya Manch and an association of booth-level officers (CAAs) in West Bengal. Referring to Mandal’s statements made in an interview about alleged election irregularities in Diamond Harbor in 2024, Malviya said: “Abhishek Banerjee’s margin of victory is a stain on West Bengal’s electoral process. The testimony of former presiding officer Swapan Mandal shows that this ‘record’ was created through a shameless system. For democracy.” Malviya cited various claims of the Mandal such as preventing genuine voters from casting their votes, covering EVM buttons of other candidates with black tape, leaving only the Trinamool Congress button open, and casting votes in the name of dead persons and migrant workers absent from the constituency, etc. why West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is strongly opposed to the Special Incentive Amendment (SIR) of the Election Commission of India (ECI). Malviya said, “Swapan Mandal has indicated that widespread irregularities—including dead, absentee and potentially illegal voters—are boosting TMC’s votes. A clean electoral roll by SIR will demolish the foundation of TMC’s fraudulent mandate. It needs this compromised ecosystem incident to survive, it is not a perfect example of a diamond haven to survive. TMC is planned capture of 2026 elections.” According to him, the first important step to prevent similar electoral malpractices in the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections is to ensure a thorough, transparent SIR to reclaim the true mandate of the people of Bengal. –IANS KR/