RJD makes its debut in Bengal Assembly

What came as the real surprise was, perhaps, the victory of Md. Sohrab in Barabazaar, the sole candidate of the Rashtriya Janata Dal in these polls.

Even his supporters were caught off guard.

This is the first time Laloo Prasad Yadav's party will be entering the state assembly.

But for the first half hour or so, after it became evident that Sohrab was winning, all his party workers, gathered outside Netaji Indoor Stadium counting centre, could do was dance around waving red flags with hammer, sickle and star emblem of the CPI(M), with which it had an alliance for these polls.

It's only later that the RJD-men could gather a few lanterns, the party symbol, and few placards and umbrellas with the party colours.

Hugging everyone in joy, Ayub Lodhi, the RJD district president, emphasised the momentousness of this victory over Tapash Roy of the Trinamool Congress, giving credit to all the "work" that Sohrab had put in.

Dinesh Bajaj, Trinamool's victorious candidate from Jorasanko, said much the same thing, as did Parimal Biswas of the Forward Block who retained the Jorabagan seat.

It is left to losers like Sanjay Bakshi to sound a discordant note.

Asked how the Left had won when there had been no rigging, as his party leader had admitted, he replied, "There are many ways to obstruct voters, for example, locking people in their houses."

He also blamed the lack of a true "jot" (alliance) with the Congress for his party not doing well.

But then those who lose are not the only ones who calculate and analyse, the left does it too, and endlessly.

In fact, Alimuddin Street's legendary "backroom" boys were hard at work "" attending calls, tracking leads and drops, analysing where the party had done particularly well, where it needed to work.

But all these machinations are beyond the party-worker.

Shiekh Azad, Bajaj's agent in the counting centre, has a simple loyalty to his leader, based on all the "work" he has done, setting up gyms, and making donations in the schools and madrassas near Kolootala where Azad lives.