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| - Fact Check: Did Mamata say she would quit politics if defeated in Nandigram?
A picture of Mamata Banerjee and Suvendu Adhikari is doing the rounds on social media, with the claim that Mamata vowed to quit politics if she lost in Nandigram.
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India Today Fact Check
It was not Mamata but BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari who had said that he would defeat her by 50,000 votes or quit politics. Suvendu beat Mamata in Nandigram by a narrow margin of 1,956 votes.
Even though the Trinamool Congress romped to victory in West Bengal, party supremo Mamata Banerjee had to bite the dust in Nandigram to her former lieutenant Suvendu Adhikari. In the meantime, a Facebook post claims that Mamata had earlier said she would quit politics if defeated in Nandigram.
Several Facebook users have posted a picture of Mamata and Suvendu with a caption in Hindi which translates to, “Is she shameless? She has been defeated by 1,622 votes, but will now take back her words as she’d said she would quit politics if defeated in Nandigram.”
India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) has found it was not Mamata but Suvendu who had said he would defeat her by 50,000 votes or quit politics. Suvendu beat Mamata in Nandigram by a narrow margin of 1,956 votes.
The archived versions of the Facebook posts are saved here, here and here.
What AFWA found
In January this year, Mamata surprised everyone by suddenly announcing that she would contest the assembly elections in Bengal from Suvendu’s bastion of Nandigram.
The decision was seen as an open challenge by the Trinamool supremo to Suvendu, the sitting MLA of Nandigram and her former aide, who had jumped ship to the BJP.
On the same day, Adhikari replied that he would beat her by at least 50,000 votes. This was widely reported by the mainstream media.
In a neck-and-neck contest, Mamata was defeated by Suvendu in Nandigram by a narrow margin of 1,956 votes. While Suvendu garnered 1,10,764 votes or 48.49 per cent of the vote share, Mamata secured 1,08,808 votes or 47.64 per cent of the vote share.
Addressing an election campaign in Bengal, Union Home minister Amit Shah exuded confidence of BJP emerging victorious in the state and said Mamata will have to exit politics as she will be defeated in Nandigram.
We have not found a single news report that says Mamata has ever said she would quit politics if she is defeated in Nandigram. Hence, it can be concluded that the viral claim is misleading.
READ | Why the BJP’s spirited campaign against Mamata failed to work in Bengal
READ | Can Mamata Banerjee become chief minister after losing Nandigram? Has it happened in past?
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