The Obzerver

#WATCH | Kolkata, West Bengal: TMC National General Secretary and MP Abhishek Banerjee says, "...Mamata ji has clearly said that the manner in which there was a loot in the elections, we did not lose but we were looted into losing...I say this again that perhaps the votes cast through EVMs cannot be hacked but EVMs can be replaced. We have received feedback from several places and the same was shared with the Returning Officer on the day of counting. The serial numbers of EVMs were not matching with 17C. 10 such EVMs came from Kalyani, Memari. There are 100 such counting centres, 100 such Assembly constituencies, where all counting agents were removed after 2 pm. It is recorded in CCTVs. 80-90% counting should have been completed by 2 pm. But look at the time stamp, just 3-4 rounds of counting were done till 2-2.30 pm yesterday...An atmosphere was created to show as if the BJP had already won. Nobody from the State was there. Counting Observer and Micro Observer were men of Centre. Returning Officer was deputed by the Election Commission. Paramilitary forces are guarding...So, there was a loot..."

TO DIDI, WITH LOVE & ADMIRATION. Redoubtable. Formidable. @MamataOfficial's remarkable courage, vibrant & irrepressible personality and tenacious determination is deeply inspiring for me; she is a UNIQUE leader and chief minister. Contrary to media stereotypes she is a gifted administrator with many policy successes under her belt, including an enduring welfare and empowerment model that has been awarded by the United Nations. Didi changed the face of Kolkata from the dilapidated Left Front years to the extent that Bengal now gets the second largest number of international tourists in India. Three years into her first term - she came to power in 2011-she was landed with the @narendramodi regime at the Centre ( by 2014) a hostile central government which did not allow her to work, denied Central funds to Bengal, and blocked central schemes in Bengal even as she fought to consolidate herself politically. ( We MUST recall that Modi as Gujarat Chief Minster was allowed to project his so called “Gujarat model” when a benevolent Manmohan Singh was PM in Delhi). Mamata Banerjee also did act against some of her own associates accused of wrong-doing and did not fight shy of prosecuting them. It has required a captured @ECISVEEP , 2 lakh security forces and an entire Modi-@AmitShah led system to defeat this towering indomitable warrior who fought every inch of the way, a roaring tigress speared from all sides. The manner in which she was hit and manhandled in the counting centre in Bhabanipur is beyond condemnable. Am deeply proud to have, in my own small way, fought this fight with @MamataOfficial and @AITCofficial and to be part of her self- built , spirited party which has given so many women real representation and visibility. The media character assassination directed at Mamata Banerjee is in no small measure because of the entrenched hostility - even hatred- women still continue to face in public life. We have been defeated at the polls and bow to the will of the people . But the fight for democracy, justice and democratic rights and for representation of women continues under the symbol of the leaf and flower, which stands bravely upright, close to the ground of our beloved land. Joy Bangla. Jai Samvidhan. Mamata Banerjee Zindabad.