 "TMC supporters in Kalighat on Tuesday Photo: ISHITA AYAN DUTT")
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Outsmarting the Opposition on the “corruption” narrative, Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Tuesday retained its grip firmly on West Bengal in the Lok Sabha polls.
In the high-octane battle in West Bengal, the TMC was ahead in 29 seats, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 12, and the Congress in one, according to the Election Commission portal.
With 42 seats, West Bengal has the third-largest representation in the Lower House of Parliament.
The trends defied most of the exit polls that had put the BJP ahead of the TMC.
It also showed the Left-Congress alliance failed to make any major dent.
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West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee congratulated the people of West Bengal and said: “I am forever grateful to them.”
At the media briefing, the TMC chairperson said she was happy that “Modiji did not get a majority. He has lost credibility; he should resign because he had said ‘iss bar 400 paar’”.
Banerjee said she would try to ensure that Modi was out of power and the INDIA block was in. TMC national general secretary, Abhishek Banerjee, was likely to represent the party at the INDIA meeting tomorrow.
Suvendu Adhikari, Leader of the Opposition and BJP MLA from Nandigram, said the BJP seat tally in West Bengal came in below expectations. But he said 39 per cent of the people in the state had put their faith in the party.
In terms of vote share, the TMC got 45.79 per cent and the BJP 38.67 per cent.
In the last general elections of 2019, Banerjee’s party had taken a beating as identity politics in West Bengal reared its head. It had bagged 22 seats, down from 34 in 2014.
What was most worrying for the party was that it had the BJP snapping at its heels with a vote share of 40.6 per cent and 18 seats.
But in the 2021 Assembly election, the TMC landed a landslide victory. And from the tally in the general elections, it appeared that the mood has remained unchanged.
Banerjee said her party had fared even better this time than in the Assembly elections.
She said the party had won in spite of so many atrocities and the onslaught of central agencies.
The Opposition parties in West Bengal had targeted the TMC for alleged corruption. However, even in the past the narrative had not had much of an impact on the electorate.
Political analyst Sabyasachi Basu Ray Chaudhury said there were quite a few factors that worked in the TMC’s favour.
“Women are likely to have voted because of the numerous welfare schemes of the government particularly Lakshmir Bhandar (a monthly basic income for women. The Citizenship Amendment Act consolidated minority votes and the BJP’s booth-level organisation in West Bengal is weak.”
As of 9:20pm, the TMC had been declared winner in 19 seats and was leading in 10. Among the star candidates, Abhishek Banerjee had won by a record margin of 710,930 votes; Mahua Moitra and Yusuf Pathan from the party also won by quite a margin.
The slide in vote share for the CPI(M) and Congress continued in West Bengal. The CPI(M) got 5.62 per cent while it had got 6.3 per cent in 2019. The Congress in West Bengal got a vote share of 4.71 per cent compared to the 5.7 per cent in the previous general election.
