Sk Safi Ahamed

Suvendu Adhikari said his aide Chandranath Rath was killed over his association with him. He said the murder was premeditated, while the family sought swift punishment for those responsible.

Chandranath Rath, a close aide of Suvendu Adhikari, was shot dead in North 24 Parganas on Wednesday night. His killing has intensified political tensions in Bengal amid the volatile post-election atmosphere.

TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee shared a phone call in which Mamata Banerjee alleged irregularities during Bhabanipur counting, claiming intimidation at counting centres and removal of her agents. She further accused procedural lapses in handling EVMs and said the outcome would be legally challenged with supporting evidence.

The allegations came a day after BJP leader and the Leader of the Opposition in West Bengal, Suvendu Adhikari, defeated Banerjee by a margin of 15,000 plus votes.

Tension gripped Bhabanipur from the very beginning on the counting day as it witnessed a sharp electoral swing between the two heavyweights.

Mamata Banerjee faces a defining moment after the BJP swept both her Bengal bastion and Bhabanipur home turf. It has raised speculation on what might be Mamata's next political move.

By 10 am on Monday, policemen on election duty began voicing long-suppressed grievances, from unpaid dearness allowance and poor working conditions to growing disillusionment with 15 years of rule. Among other factors, the TMC has increasingly lost support within its own government workforce.

Home Minister Amit Shah oversaw a data-driven BJP campaign in West Bengal with early planning, seat mapping and close booth monitoring. The party says the approach, centred on local issues and anti-incumbency, helped it win 206 seats and end TMC's 15-year rule.

BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari defeated Mamata Banerjee in Bhabanipur, the safe seat that sent the Trinamool Congress chief to the Assembly as the chief minister. The loss adds insult to injury even as the BJP decimated the TMC in the West Bengal Assembly election. These are the factors behind Mamata's loss in Bhabanipur.