Similar to the 2011 election, the All India Trinamool Congress (AITMC) gained an unassailable lead with over 200 seats, leaving the other parties behind.
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“There is no corruption in Bengal”, she claimed.
Mamata Banerjee, the stormy petrel of West Bengal politics, once again proved a master strategist decimating the new Left-Congress combination and the BJP, all of whom sought to checkmate her return to power.
The CPI (M) has alleged a sizable number of votes received by the Trinamool Congress has been transferred from the BJP. In 2014 Lok Sabha poll, the party had captured almost 23% vote. Both the Left and the Congress, which remained at the receiving end under the Trinamool rule, chose to come to a seat adjustment this time.
Former Bengal cricket captain Laxmi Ratan Shukla won the Howrah North seat on a Trinamool ticket by defeating his nearest rival Santosh Kumar Pathak of Congress by 26,959 votes. “The CPI-M had gone overboard on the alliance with the Congress, even at the cost of Left partners”. In Murshidabad, the Congress-Left Front bagged 18 and the Trinamool four.
While Rahul Sinha was initially leading in Jorasanko constituency, it was a complete turnaround as he lost to Trinamool Congress’s Smita Bakshi.
As traditional rivals, the two parties had raised eyebrows when they made a decision to join forces against the TMC and its leader Mamata Banerjee.
Trinamool Congress’ green will rule West Bengal once again.
“This is for the first time in 49 years that such a massive mandate has been given to a single party”, said Banerjee, whose party now hopes to win over 200 seats in the 294-assembly. But something has gone right for the BJP in West Bengal. “We though salute our comrades, who worked unitedly despite the attacks by TMC”, CPI (M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury told reporters here.
The TMC which had won 185 seats in 2011 and managed 39 per cent vote share in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections upped its vote percentage by six points.
There were others who won with very narrow margin.
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Counting of votes for the 232 Assembly constituencies in Tamil Nadu, where polling was held on May 16 to decide the fate of over 3,700 candidates, including Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa and DMK chief M Karunanidhi, commenced this morning.
