Bhabanipur bypoll on schedule after HC junks plea against EC's move to prioritise election

In a big relief for West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday, the Calcutta HC refused to stay the Bhabanipur by-election scheduled for September 30. To continue as the Chief Minister, the TMC supremo has to get elected to the state Assembly by November 4. A division bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal and Justice Rajarshi Bharadwaj was hearing a plea challenging the decision of the Election Commission of India to prioritise the Bhabanipur bypoll. 

Explaining the rationale for this move, the EC had revealed, "He (West Bengal Chief Secretary) also cited that under Article 164(4) of the Constitution of India, a Minister who is not a member of the Legislature of the State for a period of six consecutive months shall at the expiration of that period cease to be a Minister and there will be a constitutional crisis and vacuum in the top executive posts in the Government unless elections are held immediately. He has also informed that in view of administrative exigencies and public interest and to avoid vacuum in the state, bye-elections for 159- Bhabanipur, Kolkata from where Ms. Mamata Banerjee, Chief Minister intends to contest elections may be conducted". It issued a formal notification for the election on September 6.

According to the petitioner, Banerjee had exerted undue influence to interfere with the free and fair process of elections. The counting of votes for the by-elections to Bhabanipur, Samserganj and Jangipur will take place on October 3. In its order, the HC passed adverse comments against the WB Chief Secretary for writing to the Election Commission of India seeking to expedite the polls and adjourned the matter to November 9. 

The Bhabanipur by-election

Accepting TMC turncoat Suvendu Adhikari's challenge to fight from Nandigram in the 2021 Assembly polls, two-time Bhabanipur MLA Mamata Banerjee lost by a narrow margin of fewer than 2000 votes. Soon after the election, WB Agriculture Minister Sovandeb Chattopadhyay resigned as the Bhabanipur MLA paving way for Banerjee to contest from there. While she moved the Calcutta HC against Adhikari's victory in Nandigram, the TMC supremo filed her nomination from this seat. At present, only Banerjee and Finance Minister Amit Mitra are the two non-MLAs in the WB Council of Ministers. 

Banerjee's BJP opponent Priyanka Tibrewal, who unsuccessfully contested the West Bengal Assembly polls from Entally, is also a practicing advocate in the Calcutta High Court and the Supreme Court. She was also one of the petitioners who moved the Calcutta HC over the post-poll violence in the state. Ultimately, a 5-judge Constitution bench directed that all cases of murder and crimes against women including rape pertaining to the post-poll violence will be transferred to the CBI. Moreover, it entrusted all other cases referred by the NHRC to an SIT comprising IPS officers Suman Bala Sahoo, Soumen Mitra, and Ranbir Kumar.