Bengal backs Mamata Bannerje

Kolkata: The TMC raced ahead of its rivals, leading in 31 seats after several rounds of counting, while the BJP led in 10, and Congress in one, even as it took an insurmountable lead in many seats, according to the Election Commission website. The party is set for second best performance in the state after 2014 when it had won 34 seats. Till 1 pm, the party bagged 47 per cent votes, up from 43 per cent in 2019. In the last LS polls, the TMC had won 22 seats.

BJP’s hope to make its strongest political statement from the Sandeshkhali-inclusive Basirhat Lok Sabha constituency looked to have been dashed to the ground as its candidate Rekha Patra was outsmarted by TMC veteran Haji Nurul Islam who has been leading with a margin 3,33,547.

The alleged incidents of sexual atrocities on the local women, and land-grab in Sandeshkhali, one of the seven assembly segments of Basirhat, seem to have failed to deliver the BJP the coveted win from the seat.

For the voters at large of the Basirhat constituency, having one of West Bengal’s most porous stretches of international border with Bangladesh, the issues of Sandeshkhali were “very local” and did not appeal to them, poll experts felt.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, emboldened by the Lok Sabha election performance of her TMC and the I.N.D.I.A. bloc partners, claimed on Tuesday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had lost his credibility and magic and hence should resign, accepting moral defeat, along with union home minister Amit Shah.

The Trinamul supremo also informed that she had congratulated UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi personally over the poll results. She added that her MP nephew Abhishek Banerjee would attend the I.N.D.I.A. meeting in New Delhi on Wednesday.

Banerjee said at her Kalighat residence, “The credit behind the success of I.N.D.I.A. goes to the people of the country for not giving importance at all to Modi’s party as the single largest one. India has won. Modi has lost. He earlier broke many parties. But now people broke his morale. He is now falling at the feet of TD and Nitish Kumar to form government.”

She argued, “Modi has lost his credibility and magic. He must resign. So should the home minister. Atrocities and central agencies’ misuse have been defeated.” Sending a stern warning to the BJP, the CM observed, “We will not spare them for intimidating us by central agencies and two-thirds majority in Parliament.”

Neither we nor any other I.N.D.I.A. partner will forgive them.”

On the participation in the anti-BJP bloc meeting, she added, “We don't know as we are yet to be informed about it. Anyway, Abhishek can represent us there since he won from his seat by the biggest margin in the country.” Banerjee took a dig at the CPM, calling it “a lost case” for suffering yet another electoral whitewash in the state.

Explaining her party's success, the TMC chief pointed out, “In Bengal, our votes increased by a two-third majority in many seats. In some seats, we lost by a few thousands. Still four five seats including Kanthi are left where ‘BJP’ observers are not giving our candidates the winner's certificates even after their victory.”

She alleged, “They are doing it deliberately to declare the BJP candidates as winners. If the observers play politics, it is sad. They were selectively deployed by the BJP to favour it's candidates. We are supposed to get another three-four seats more than what we got. At Tamluk, it was not an election at all. It was a total rigging like what happened in my contest (at Nandigram). If needed, we will ask for recounting of votes.”