At the time of writing, the TMC was well-cushioned with more than 210 seats in its kitty (both leads and wins), with the Left Front-Congress lagging behind, at a distant 77.
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“Even now when we speak, there is violence being unleashed”.
It’s been a massive landslide victory for the Trinamool Congress and a crushing defeat for the Left parties in the state of West Bengal.
City-based RP-Sanjiv Goenka group’s chairman Sanjiv Goenka said the return of Mamata Banerjee as the chief minister was a great news for those who want Bengal to win the eagerly-awaited race for economic development. A fire brand leader in the National politics…she has been popularly known as Agni Kanya in the state till she was the lone and loudest voice against the Left in West Bengal. Instead of coming back to power on the backs of their long-time rivals, they have helped India’s grand old party retain their seats despite the Trinamool tsunami.
But being a fighter, Banerjee refused to be cowed down and led the protest against farmland acquisitions in Singur and Nandigram which finally catapulted her to the seat of power in the state. Had the BJP built itself up in West Bengal organisationally and kept up its campaign against the Trinamool, there is no doubt that it could have emerged as the principal opposition party in West Bengal in these elections and given Mamata a run for her (Saradha) money. The Communists will have to resign themselves to spending time in the wilderness in West Bengal for the next five years.
The dismal scenario for the Left-Congress alliance was reflected in its unofficial chief ministerial candidate, CPI-M state secretary Surjya Kanta Mishra suffering a humiliating defeat by over 13,000 votes in Narayangarh. TMC had fielded 57 Muslims in elections.
In 2004 Lok Sabha election Banerjee was the only one from TMC to win. State Tribal Affairs Minister and Trinamool candidate Sukumar Hansda retained his Jhargram seat in the Left-Wing Extremism affected area by a heavy margin of 55,228 votes. “But its strength reflects from the fact that its supporters mobilised people on the ground when they realised their party might be in danger.” said Kolkata-based political scientist Ranabir Samaddar. We had conducted campaign on given issues. The West Bengal Assembly Elections 2016 was conducted after the successful completion of the tenure of 5 years. The people of West Bengal can witness Mamata Banerjee swearing as the Cheif Minister for the second time.
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It is understandable that Union ministers have to keep a working relationship with state governments in a federal setup. “People should learn from experience”, she said. It was only in Malda and Murshidabad districts where the Left-Congress alliance candidates scored well.
