After 113 Years Of Power, Privilege :::: Eviction Notice For Delhi Gymkhana Club ::::: It has been more than just a sports or recreation club. Its membership defined people's status in the Delhi high society !!

 The Central Govt said that the Delhi Gymkhana Club 'land' --- adjacent to the Prime Minister’s official residence, was “critically required for strengthening and securing of defence infrastructure and other vital public security purposes”.

The Union Ministry of Housing has written a letter to the club’s secretary.

Its membership defined people's status in the Delhi high society !

With around 1,200 members, getting into the coveted circle has historically been extraordinarily difficult. The waiting period to get a membership has stretched 20 to 30 years. 

The move comes against the backdrop of a broader political shift since Modi first took office in 2014, positioning himself as a challenger to India’s traditional elites, including those associated with the opposition Congress party led by the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty.

Analysts say the prominence of spaces such as the Delhi Gymkhana Club have been eroded under Modi’s populist politics. The Hindu-nationalist leader has sought to eliminate remnants of India’s colonial past by reshaping several key British-era relics with his own mega projects.

The club, which includes buildings close to 100 years old, remains one of the most sought after memberships in the capital, with long waiting lists and a reputation as a hub of influence.

However, it has also been dogged by internal disputes and allegations of financial mismanagement in recent years. Figures linked to Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata party have repeatedly accused its leadership of factionalism and poor governance.  

Delhi Gymkhana Club asked to vacate the land and hand over premises by June 5

The Land and Development Office’s order stated that the 'land' is essential to fulfil urgent institutional needs, governance infrastructure and public interest project. 

The Govt move underscores the long-running push of the prime minister, Narendra Modi, against entrenched elite institutions.

Founded under British colonial rule in 1913 as the Imperial Delhi Gymkhana Club, the institution has long been synonymous with the rich and famous.

Once restricted to colonial elites under discriminatory entry rules that barred Indians, it later evolved into a powerful networking hub for politicians, senior bureaucrats, judges and business figures after independence in 1947

"Pickled in Rum...

sinful, ginful, rum-soaked (women &) men,

Survive for three score years and ten,
And some of them, though very few,
Stay pickled till they're 92!"

Renowned author and life-time member Khushwant Singh's humourous and satirical take on the patrons of the Delhi Gymkhana Club at the ripe age of 92.

Spread across nearly 27 acres on Safdarjung Road, the club building was designed by famed British architect Robert Tor Russell - who also designed Connaught Place and Teen Murti House.

The club boasts 26 grass tennis courts, which is the most in any club in the country. It has seven clay courts, three squash courts, badminton courts, a billiards room and a covered swimming pool. There are three lounge bars and 43 resident cottages.

High-ranking bureaucrats, military chiefs, diplomats, judges, politicians, industrialists and old business families made up much of its membership making it synonymous with India's ruling establishment. Its membership carries equal prestige as a high office. 

Just about a 100 memberships are opened every year to fill up for deaths and resignations.

"India and the United States will continue to work closely for the global good," says Modi after meeting US Secy of State Marco Rubio

 PM gets White House invite as he holds security, trade talks with Marco Rubio

The three-day visit to India by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio comes at a time when ties between India and the US under Trump 2.0 have continued to fluctuate amid trade tensions.  

US envoy Sergio Gor, who joined Rubio for the meeting with PM Modi, said the talks also spanned the Indo-Pacific, where China has sought to assert its strength. India has always been viewed by the US as a counterbalance to China in the crucial region.

"We had a productive discussion on ways to deepen US-India cooperation across security, trade, and critical technologies... India is a vital partner to the United States!" Gor tweeted. He also said that PM Modi was invited to the White House in the "near future".  

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday held crucial talks on security and trade with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who in turn extended him an invitation to the White House on behalf of Donald Trump. The three-day visit to India by Rubio comes at a time when ties between India and the US under Trump 2.0 have continued to fluctuate amid trade tensions.  

"Happy to receive the US Secretary of State, Mr. Marco Rubio. We discussed sustained progress in the India-US Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership and issues related to regional and global peace and security.

India and the United States will continue to work closely for the global good," Modi tweeted.   

The timing of the visit is crucial amid reports that Donald Trump was considering relaunching strikes on Iran after talks for a peace deal, which is being mediated by Pakistan, failed to bear any fruit.  

The Prime Minister last met Trump in February 2025, when he became one of the first world leaders to visit the White House following the eccentric Republican's return to office. Trump called PM Modi a "great friend", and the duo pledged to double US-India trade to $500 billion by 2030.

However, ties reached a nadir in the following months as Trump imposed tariffs of up to 50% on India over its continued purchase of Russian oil - a move that the White House claimed was funding Moscow's war machine against Ukraine. The strain in ties was tacitly used by Pakistan to warm up to Trump by massaging his ego.

A turnaround came in February this year after India and the US reached a trade deal framework. Trump also cut tariffs on Indian imports to 18%. However, the Iran war and the Middle East turmoil have delayed the signing of a formal trade deal.

In this one year, as ties see-sawed between the US and India, PM Modi and Trump have somehow not managed to cross paths at major global summits. However, the big meeting may happen as early as next month on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in France, where PM Modi has been invited as a special invitee. 

 Intense negativity characterises European and, to a lesser degree, North American political sentiment. In France, 90% of people questioned by Ipsos believed their country is on the wrong track. 

In Britain, it was 79%;  in Germany, 77%; 

in the US, 60%. 

Europeans feel similarly glum about the bigger, global picture.   

Unlike the past; there is less of optimism and there is more cautiousness.  

The US has itself to blame; and India may find its new stance fully justified.  

A poll in January 2026 by the magazine 'India Today' found that 54 percent of Indians felt that India’s relations with the United States have worsened under Donald Trump.

ends 

Spl Column :::: Italy and India: A Strategic Partnership for the Indo-Mediterranean -- (joint op-ed piece by Narendra Modi and Italy PM Giorgia Meloni )

 The relationship between India and Italy has now reached a decisive stage. In recent years, our ties have expanded with unprecedented momentum, evolving from a cordial friendship into a special strategic partnership grounded in the values of freedom and democracy, and a common vision for the future.

At a time when the international system is undergoing a profound change, the partnership between Italy and India is guided by regular exchanges at higher political and institutional levels, and is gaining a new and higher dimension that combines our economic dynamism, societal creativity, and millennia-old civilisational wisdom. 

Our cooperation mirrors our shared awareness that prosperity and security in the 21st century will be shaped by the ability of nations to innovate, manage energy transitions, and strengthen strategic sovereignty. To this end, we have committed to deepen and diversify our bilateral relationship with a view to pursuing new objectives and pooling our complementary strengths. 

We aim to forge a powerful synergy between Italian design, manufacturing excellence, and world-class supercomputers - reflecting Italy's position as an industrial powerhouse - and India's rapid economic growth, engineering talent, scale, and innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystem with over 100 unicorns and 200,000 start-ups. This is not a simple integration, but a co-creation of value where our respective industrial strengths amplify one another.

The Free Trade Agreement between the European Union and India paves the way for increased trade and investment in both directions. We want to reach and exceed the Euro 20 billion target for trade between Italy and India by 2029, with a focus on defence and aerospace, clean technologies, machinery, automotive components, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, textiles, agri-food, tourism and more.  

"Made in Italy" has always been synonymous with excellence worldwide, and today it finds a natural synergy with the high-quality goals of the "Make in India" initiative. In this context, the growing interest of Italian businesses in the production for India and the increasing presence of Indian industries in Italy, numbering over 1,000 from both sides now, is a positive sign that will strengthen the integration of our supply chains.

Technological innovation lies at the very heart of our partnership. The coming decades will be shaped by a technological revolution of unmeasurable scope, marked by advances in sectors such as Artificial Intelligence, quantum computing, advanced manufacturing, critical minerals, and digital infrastructure. India's dynamic innovation ecosystem, coupled with highly skilled professional talent pool, and Italy's advanced industrial capabilities make our cooperation in the above sectors both natural and strategic. The growing partnership between our universities and research centres will support this.

India's Digital Public Infrastructure is already finding resonance with a large number of countries particularly in the Global South. Artificial Intelligence, in particular, is already impacting our societies and the global economy. Italy and India have long been collaborating to ensure that Al development is responsible and human-centred. 

From this perspective, India and Italy also see Al as a powerful instrument for inclusive development, especially for the Global South, where digital public infrastructure and accessible, multilingual technologies can bridge divides rather than deepen them. 

Building on India's vision of MANAV-putting human at the centre of technology and Italy's leadership in promoting a human-centric 'algor-ethics' rooted in its humanist tradition, our partnership seeks to ensure that Al acts as a catalyst for social empowerment. Our approach combines India's digital scale with Italy's ethical and industrial expertise, ensuring technology serves human dignity. By sharing best practices in secure digital cooperation, capacity-building and resilient cyber infrastructure, we aim to create an open, trustworthy and equitable digital space in which every nation can shape and benefit from Al. 

This perspective forms the core of Italy's G7 Presidency and outcomes of the Al Impact Summit 2026, held in New Delhi. Conceiving Al as a tool created by humans for humans means firmly asserting that technology cannot replace individuals or undermine their fundamental rights, nor be used to manipulate public debate or alter democratic processes. 

Our approach to defending freedom and human dignity in an increasingly interconnected world hinges on this very challenge.

Our cooperation also covers the space sector. India's impressive advancements in space exploration and satellite technology, together with Italy's aerospace engineering excellence, offer significant opportunities for joint initiatives and next-generation technology development.

Security and stability remain essential to ensuring nations' prosperity. Italy and India intend to further strengthen their cooperation in sectors such as defence, security and strategic technologies. 

Our collaboration will help ensure the security of critical maritime routes, strengthen resilience in the face of threats, such as terrorism, international criminal networks, drug trafficking, cyber-crimes and human trafficking.

Energy is another key pillar of our partnership. The global transition towards diversified energy sources requires innovation, investment, and cooperation. India and Italy are collaborating from renewable energy to hydrogen technologies, and from smart grids to resilient infrastructure. While India's push for becoming a hub for green hydrogen exports offers immense potential, it perfectly complements Italy's advanced technology in renewable infrastructure and its strategic role as an energy gateway for Europe. 

Our collaboration along with other countries in key India-led initiatives - International Solar Alliance (ISA), Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) and Global Biofuels Alliance (GBA) - is also important in this context.

Physical, digital and human connectivity is the thread that weaves us together. Both India and Italy are located at the very heart of two crucial hubs of the global economy, the Indo-Pacific and the Mediterranean-regions that cannot be viewed as separate spheres, but instead as increasingly interconnected spaces.

As a matter of fact, we are witnessing the emergence of what might be termed the Indo-Mediterranean, an important corridor for trade, technology, energy, data and ideas tying the Indian Ocean to Europe. It is precisely within this interconnected space that our bond naturally evolves into a special strategic partnership-one that bridges two continents and shapes new global dynamics.

In this context, the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor represents a vision aimed at connecting our regions through modern transport and infrastructure, digital networks, energy systems, and resilient supply chains. India and Italy are also committed to working together with other partners to make this vision a reality.

We can address our shared challenges by drawing upon the profound partnership and the enduring cultural ties between our nations. 

Within Indian culture, the concept of "Dharma" evokes the sense of responsibility that must guide our actions, whilst the principle of "Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam" - the world is one family-resonates powerfully in this interconnected digital age. 

Such values find a natural echo in Italy's humanist tradition, rooted in the Renaissance, which highlights the dignity of each individual and the power of culture to unite peoples and societies.

"Our shared vision, therefore, aims to lay the foundation for a strong and forward-looking India-Italy partnership with our people at the centre."

ends 

“With educational and economic empowerment, there is social mobility .... to seek reservation for children is not proper " - Supreme Court

“With educational and economic empowerment, there is social mobility. In that case, to seek reservation for the children is not proper." 

The Supreme Court on Friday orally questioned the rationale of children of IAS and IPS officers seeking reservation benefits despite their families having progressed socially and educationally.

“If both parents are IAS officers, then why should they have reservation?” a bench of Justices B.V. Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan asked during a hearing, as it expressed concern over quota benefits being availed by the creamy layer within the backward communities.

Justice Nagarathna said: “With educational and economic empowerment, there is social mobility. In that case, to seek reservation for the children is not proper. We will never get out of this. We should be concerned about these things.”

The bench made the observation while dealing with an appeal by Ragavendra Chandranavar, an OBC candidate, challenging the denial of appointment as assistant engineer (electrical) with the Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Limited under the OBC quota.  

The District Caste and Income Verification Committee denied him a caste validity certificate after concluding that he fell within the creamy layer. Consequently, the caste certificate that was issued to the petitioner certifying him as a member of the Kuruba community was revoked.

He was denied appointment because his parents were in the state government service and the couple’s total salary exceeded the income cap of ₹8 lakh fixed by the State Backward Classes Commission to exclude the creamy layer from the benefits of reservation. Karnataka High Court had earlier dismissed the petitioner’s plea, aggrieved by which he filed the present appeal.

The counsel for the petitioner, however, argued that the annual salary drawn by the parents cannot be the sole criterion for determining whether a person belongs to the creamy layer. 

He said it has to be examined whether a person’s parents are holding Group A, B, C or D posts. It was argued that merely because a person’s parents were working in government service as peons or clerks, they cannot be excluded from the benefits of reservation.

The Supreme Court issued a formal notice to the Karnataka government for its response to the appeal.  

"They are both IAS officers, both are in government service. They are very well-placed. Social mobility is there. Now there are government orders excluding all these people and they are questioning the exclusion. This also has to be kept in mind," Justice Nagarathna said.

The court said: "With educational and economic empowerment, there is social mobility. So, then again, seeking reservation for the children, we will never get out of it. That is a matter we have to concern also".

Appearing in the matter, advocate Shashank Ratnoo said the persons concerned were not excluded because of their salary but because of their status and sought for deeper examination and said there had to be a distinction between the Economically Weaker Sections category and the creamy layer.

In response, Justice Nagarathna said that in EWS there is no social backwardness, but only economic backwardness.  

Ratnoo then argued that the criteria for the creamy layer had to be much more liberal than for EWS, and said that if both were treated alike, there would be no difference between them.

Justice Nagarathna further said there had to be some balance. She said that while a person may be socially and educationally backward, the position changes once the parents have attained a certain level after taking advantage of the reservation.

The court issued notice in the plea after hearing these submissions and sought responses from the concerned parties.

The Supreme Court is examining petitions seeking reservation benefits for the creamy layer among backward classes, reviving the question whether economic status can override caste-based social disadvantage.

In the landmark 1992 Supreme Court judgment in the Indra Sawhney judgment, also known as the Mandal case, the court upheld a 27 per cent reservation for OBCs but ruled that the “creamy layer” among them must be excluded from quotas.

ends 

Assamese-Bongali divide thrown into past ::: Himanta Govt admirably names a major Guwahati flyover after a Bengali nationalist leader Syama Prasad Mookherjee

Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma says:

"In 1947, when Partition was no longer a question of 'if', only of 'where the lines would fall', the Muslim League had a plan of taking the entire Bengal, including Calcutta and the entire North East, into East Pakistan. 

Had they succeeded, there would be no Assam in India today". 

Working alongside freedom fighter and later Chief Minister of Assam, Gopinath Bordoloi, Bharatiya Jan Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mookherjee provided key support at the national level.

While Bordoloi led the resistance in Assam through protests, mobilising local leaders and personally negotiating with the Congress high command and British authorities in Delhi — Mookherjee leveraged his considerable influence in national politics and as a prominent leader of the Hindu Mahasabha to amplify Assam's concerns on the larger stage.

Why Himanta govt named a Guwahati flyover after a Bengali nationalist leader

Assam's Chief Minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma, has named Guwahati's new Rs 376 crore flyover after Syama Prasad Mookerjee, the founder of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS). It's not just because the BJS was the BJP's precursor.  

Many might wonder why a major infrastructure project in Assam is named after a Bengali barrister, educationist, and a nationalist politician from Calcutta (now Kolkata). A barrister by training, a minister in both the provincial and national governments, and a passionate advocate of national unity, Mookerjee is best known for his role in founding the Bharatiya Jana Sangh (which the present day BJP traces its lineage to). 

He is also known for his fierce opposition to the granting of special status using Article 370 to Jammu and Kashmir (which ultimately resulted in his death while in police custody).

The Assam Chief Minister inaugurated a new flyover in Guwahati on Friday evening. Built at a cost of Rs 376 crore, the 2.8 km long structure connects the busy Lalganesh and Cycle Factory areas, promising relief from long-standing traffic congestion. 

And as they say the real story lies in the historical figure it is named after. That's Syama Prasad Mookerjee. The Himanta Govt's decision was not typically a political decision of a BJP-led dispensation. It was laying of emphasis on a strong Nationalism.  

Mookerjee had played a critical role in preserving Assam as an integral part of India, protecting it from being merged into East Pakistan, and for his strong advocacy of the Assamese language and culture.

HOW SYAMA PRASAD MOOKHERJEE ENSURED ASSAM REMAINED AN INDIA STATE

The year is 1947, and the British Raj in India is in the midst of its long overdue last breaths. This was also at the same time that the Partition of India was, more or less, inevitable. The question now, was where would the new international borders separating the newly-independent India and Pakistan fall.

The Muslim League, under the leadership of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, aggressively pursued territorial claims over large parts of eastern India. 

Under the Cabinet Mission Plan, there were serious proposals to group Assam with Bengal. Both the regions had been classified as Group-C states, which classified them as Muslim provinces.  

Should such a plan succeed, it could have eventually pulled the entire North East into the newly created East Pakistan. Assam, with its significant Bengali Muslim immigrant population at the time, was under serious threat of being separated from India through demographic and political manoeuvring.

"As the history of independent Pakistan, and its sordid record of treating minorities would later demonstrate, this would have doomed Assam and the rest of North East India's rich cultural heritage to eventual erasure under the heavy boot of Islamabad," says a piece in 'India Today'.   

"Most importantly, he treated Assam as central to India's idea of itself. Not as a peripheral frontier or a forgotten corner but as a region whose people, language and land were inseparable from Maa Bharti. That is the Assam he helped save. This is the Assam we live in today," Himanta posted on X.

The joint efforts of Bordoloi and Mookherjee ultimately helped convince the Congress leadership to reject the Cabinet Mission's Grouping proposal for Assam. This joint struggle succeeded in keeping Assam firmly within India.

SYAMA PRASAD MOOKHERJEE'S ADVOCACY FOR ASSAMESE IDENTITY

Syhama Prasad Mookherjee's efforts for Assam extended well beyond the political battle during Partition.

As Vice-Chancellor of Calcutta University from 1934 to 1938, he actively promoted the use of regional languages in education. He pushed for Assamese to be recognised as a medium of instruction in schools and took concrete steps to strengthen higher education in the language.

Himanta Biswa Sarma noted the important contribution on X. "During Dr Mookerjee's tenure as VC, he advocated for Assamese as a medium for school education in Assam, with Dr Birinchi Kumar Baruah playing a key role in strengthening Assamese language studies and higher education".

Sarma also emphasised that Syhama Prasad Mukherjee's biggest contribution went beyond politics and language. He saw Assam not as a remote border region but as an essential part of India's national identity.

ends 

"Two nations India and US must work hand-in-hand and identify those win-win situations for both of our countries" ::: Marco Rubio visit

 Stage is all set for Marco Rubio's visit to India. Unlike the past; there is less of optimism and there is more cautiousness.  

The US has itself to blame; and India may find its new stance fully justified.  

When the US Secretary of State visits India on May 23–26, he will find New Delhi's foreign policy engine room and even analysts outside more wary of the United States than at any other time this century.  

Why?  

A poll in January 2026 by the magazine 'India Today' found that 54 percent of Indians felt that India’s relations with the United States have worsened under Donald Trump.

Before Vice Prez J D Vance’s trip to India in April 2025, PM Narendra Modi had visited President Donald Trump in the White House in February (2025).

Modi was only the second Asian leader to do so in the president’s second term after Japan’s former Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru. 

With his characteristic optimism and love of slogans, PM Modi had even declared that MAGA (Make America Great Again) and MIGA (Make India Great Again) would together result in a “mega partnership for prosperity.”  But all these now appear a thing of past.

In an interview with a website last year, former Indian Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran declared that “the twenty-five-year upward trajectory of India–U.S. relations has certainly plateaued, if not started declining.” 

In early 2026, Nirupama Rao, another former Indian foreign secretary, and a former Indian ambassador to the United States and China, wrote about a new U.S. approach to India that “has become noticeably harder, more transactional, and less insulated by the rhetoric of partnership that characterised earlier phases of the relationship.”   

Why Marco Rubio will have to be in 'repair mode'? He has to ask Donald Trump. In May 2025 and later all along; Trump kept making Indians angry and 'embarrassed Modi' by repeatedly taking credit for ending a four-day conflict between India and Pakistan vis-a-vis Operation Sindoor. 

India could not accept this line vecause New Delhi’s official position of dealing with Pakistan in strictly bilateral. 

The US President should have displayed the sensibility.  

Trump also imposed a 50 percent import tariff on India, among the highest in the world, which included a 25 percent tariff as punishment for India’s purchase of Russian oil.

No such punitive tariff on Russian oil purchases was applied to China, another large Russian customer. 

The tariff rate was to be brought down to 18 percent under a tentative trade deal announced in February before the U.S. Supreme Court scrapped the tariffs that had been authorized under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.  

All this means that Rubio has his work cut out. In addition to attending the Quad gathering, the secretary of state is scheduled to meet with Modi, Foreign Minister Dr S Jaishankar, and National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval.

He will also visit Agra, Jaipur, and Kolkata. 

The bilateral agenda will span defense, economics, and technology, among other issues.  

US envoy Sergio Gor said Secretary of State Marco Rubio's maiden India visit would combine bilateral talks, the Quad meeting, and travels to experience the incredible culture of the country. He added the unusually long trip reflected Washington's focus on closer ties and concrete outcomes with India. 

India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have a friend in the Oval Office, US envoy Sergio Gor told India Today a day before Secretary of State Marco Rubio's maiden visit to the country.  

Sergio Gor stressed that the message from US President Donald Trump is simple: Washington wants to work even closer with New Delhi.

"The President, as you know, as I've often said, holds the Prime Minister in very high regard. And the message will be clear: the United States and India are natural partners, and that's something we hope to build upon," Gor said.

The US Ambassador said that he spoke with Trump two days before and the President firmly said that he wants, after the meeting, both sides to work together seamlessly. "What he wants to see come out of this trip is our two sides working hand-in-hand and identifying those win-win situations for both of our countries."

ends 

Even Kalighat did not Vote for Mamata :::: What a fall .... that's the power and BEAUTY of Democracy !!

 Bhabanipur did not vote as one place. Across the 267 booths, the contest lurched from lane to lane. Booth 46 gave Banerjee 936 votes and Adhikari 18. Elsewhere on the sheet, booth 231 gave Adhikari 699 and Banerjee just 15.

The booths Mamata Banerjee carried were not narrow wins. 

Many were among the widest margins on the sheet, dense pockets returning her 600, 700, even 900 votes a station. Her support in Bhabanipur is real and concentrated. It was simply outnumbered. Adhikari's 205 booths spread across far more of the seats, and several of his strongest sat in the wards Banerjee has long counted as her own.

KALIGHAT WENT AGAINST HER

Kalighat is Ward 73 of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation.

Its nine core polling stations, on Kalighat Road and the lanes around the temple, went to Adhikari by 3,794 votes to 1,223. 

Mamata Banerjee led one of the nine booths at Children's Academy on Rani Sankari Lane, and she led it by five votes.

The two booths housed inside the KMC ward office itself, Jai Hind Bhavan on Kalighat Road, recorded 1,089 votes for Adhikari and 232 for Banerjee.

Suvendu Adhikari does not live in Kolkata. He is a resident of Kanthi, a town in East Midnapore. 

In 2021, he beat Mamara Banerjee on her chosen battlefield at Nandigram. In 2026, the booth sheet shows him beating her on her home ground.

Walk south from the Kalighat Kali Temple in Kolkata into a lane called Harish Chatterjee Street, and you will reach the house Mamata Banerjee has lived in for decades. The polling station that serves it sits inside Mitra Institution, a school on the same street. 

When the Election Commission of India released the booth-wise count for the 2026 Bhabanipur election, there were 327 votes for Suvendu Adhikari and 224 for Banerjee.  

The TMC chief led just 61 of the 267 polling stations in her own constituency, according to Form 20, the final result sheet the Election Commission issues for every seat. Adhikari, the Bharatiya Janata Party candidate, led 205.

The seat result itself was settled on the counting day: 

Suvendu Adhikari - 73,917 votes, 

Mamata Banerjee - 58,812.  

For a politician whose identity is bound to this patch of south Kolkata, the Kalighat neighbourhood, and the Harish Chatterjee Street house she has never left, Form 20 is a street-level record of how her own ground voted. 

It shows a constituency that did not so much swing as split, and a home ward that went heavily against her.  

The Form 20 sheet puts Mamata's Bhabanipur count at 58,812 votes. 

At the polling station inside her ward's own office, in the neighbourhood she has always called home, it records the line plainly: Adhikari 697, Banerjee 132. The chief minister had lost the room next door.