)
With Trinamool Congress' spectacular performance in the Lok Sabha Polls, party supremo Mamata Banerjee seemed to be have outwitted the opposition, mainly the Left in West Bengal.
The Left in the once regarded red citadel put up its worst ever performance winning just two seats.
Apart from Trinamool's dream run which swept up 34 of the 42 seats, the polls also had surprises in store with BJP registering an impressive performance winning two seats and increasing its vote share almost three-fold.
Notwithstanding the nationwide rout, Congress' performance in the state was not dismal as the party managed to retain four of six seats it won in 2009 Lok Sabha elections.
WBPCC president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury described the party's performance in the state as 'satisfactory'.
But Congress' vote share in the state was reduced to 9.6 per cent this time from 13.45 per cent in 2009.
Riding on the pro-Modi wave, BJP which had secured just 6.15 per cent votes in 2009, secured 17.6 per cent votes this time around.
Political analysts feel that if sustained, the Modi factor which boosted the saffron party's fortunes in Bengal, might change the political equations in the state.
The biggest loser was the Left which got only two seats down from 15 in 2009.
CPI(M), the dominant constituent of the Left front, managed to wrest two seats -- Raigunj and Murshidabad, from Congress. CPI, Forward Bloc and RSP, three other major LF partners drew a blank.
While Trinamool Congress got 39.40 per cent votes, up from 31.18 per cent in 2009, the Left Front's vote share came down to 29 per cent from 43.66 per cent in the last Lok Sabha polls.
