Kolkata

Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday approached the Calcutta High Court by filing an election petition challenging the outcome of the Assembly election from the Bhabanipur constituency, where she was defeated by BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari.

According to sources in the All India Trinamool Congress, Banerjee personally visited the high court registry to affirm the petition contesting the election result.

Adhikari had secured victory over Banerjee in the prestigious Bhabanipur seat by a margin of 15,105 votes in the recently concluded West Bengal Assembly elections.

The counting of votes for the state polls took place on May 4, resulting in a sweeping victory for the Bharatiya Janata Party. Following the party's emphatic win, Adhikari assumed office as West Bengal's first BJP chief minister.

The election petition filed by Banerjee seeks judicial scrutiny of the Bhabanipur result, though details of the grounds on which the outcome has been challenged were not immediately available.

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The development adds a new legal dimension to the political contest between Banerjee and Adhikari, whose rivalry has remained one of the defining features of West Bengal's political landscape in recent years.