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The Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) has increased its tally in West Bengal, winning 34 of the 42 seats. In the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, the party had won 19 seats. The party has also increased its vote share from 31 per cent to 39 per cent.
In south Bengal, the party won 30 of the 31 seats.
The Left Front has been decimated, with the Communist Party of India (Marxist) winning only Murshidabad and Raigunj seats. The Left’s vote share fell to 29 per cent from 43 per cent in 2009. For its debacle, the party blamed “rigging” by the TMC.
The TMC seems to now be up against a new political force in the state, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has made major inroads, bagging two seats —Darjeeling and Asansol (singer Babul Supriyo was the party’s candidate from this seat). Compared to the 2009 polls, the party’s vote share has almost tripled to 17 per cent.
The Congress, routed in other parts of the country, managed to regain its strongholds of Malda and Murshidabad districts; the party won four of the six seats it had won in 2009. In the 2009 elections, the party had an alliance with the TMC.
Though the Congress’ vote share was much lower (nine per cent) than that of the BJP’, it managed to win more seats.
Celebrations were seen in the TMC and BJP camps. However, despite a landslide victory for her party, the setback for Banerjee were her hopes of playing kingmaker at the Centre, dashed with the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance securing a comfortable majority.
