 "Mamata Banerjee")
Mamata Banerjee emerged as the top newsmaker of 2016 in West Bengal after leading the Trinamool Congress (TMC) to a thumping victory in the assembly polls and positioning herself in the forefront of the anti-Modi crusade over the demonetisation issue later.
The state government also scored a major victory in the Supreme Court that termed as "illegal and void" the acquisition of land in Singur by the previous Left Front (LF) regime for Tata Motors' Nano car project by ordering restoration of the land to the farmers.
Banerjee described the apex court ruling as a "landmark victory" for her party.
The year also witnessed the collapse of the under-construction Vivekananda road flyover in which over 20 people lost their lives. The incident led to political mudslinging with TMC chief putting the blame on the previous LF government.
The state also saw a slugfest involving the TMC, its foe-turned-friend Congress and rival CPI(M)-led Left Front during the assembly poll.
Raising the Narada sting operation and Saradha scam issues, the Congress-Left combine tried to put up a tough fight but TMC had managed to capture 211 seats in the 294-member assembly.
The Bharatiya Janata Party played a spoilsport for the Congress and Left alliance, which ended up with a meagre 76 seats. Meanwhile, the BJP opened its account in the state by winning three seats.
Maintaining its winning spree, TMC also recorded victories in the by-election to two Lok Sabha and one assembly seat in the state.
Having the main Opposition parties decimated in Bengal, Banerjee chose to play a bigger role in national politics ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
With Prime Minister Narendra Modi announcing the decision to demonetise Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes on November 8, Banerjee was the first to go all out against the decision terming it "anti-people" and "financial emergency" in the country.
Political observers say the demonetisation issue gave Banerjee a much-awaited opportunity to try her luck in playing a major role in national politics.
To build a nationwide movement against BJP, Banerjee gave a call of putting up a united fight against the saffron party at the Centre and even managed to enlist the support of Shiv Sena, and the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) partner, which had marched to the Rashtrapati Bhavan along with TMC to protest against demonetisation.
In her effort, she kept aside her political differences and even spoke to CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury.
The TMC supremo did not waste a single chance of taking on Modi from the front and made the deployment of army personnel at toll plazas in the state a major issue dubbing it as a 'coup' attempt on the part of the Centre although the army described it a routine operation.
Ridiculing her attempt of playing a major role in national politics, the BJP said her ambition will never get fulfilled as the people have supported the decision of demonetisation.
The year also witnessed some newly-elected MLAs of both Congress and the Left deserting their respective parties and joining TMC. They included former state Congress president Manas Bhunia.
