Big swing in vote towards Trinamool in Kolkata region after second wave of Covid
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Synopsis
The strong second wave of the pandemic made campaigning difficult and the fight tougher for the BJP. Kolkata and surrounding areas completely failed the BJP. These seats, known as AITC bastions, were always a concern for the BJP due to its lack of strong organisational network.
The All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) had an edge in the urban seats, which mostly went to the polls after the outbreak of the second wave of Covid-19 in the state. The party got a substantial lead in Kolkata and surrounding Rajarhat, Bidhannagar, Behala, Jadavpur, Dumdum and Cossipore-Belgachhia and Beleghata.
What State Election Results Mean For PM Modi, Rahul Gandhi What State Election Results Mean For PM Modi, Rahul Gandhi In West Bengal, incumbent Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee s Trinamool Congress won around 72% of 292 seats up for grabs, while PM Modi s BJP took 77, according to results posted on the ECI on Monday.
PM Modi s opponents won in the southern states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala (File)
Highlights
Last month, PM Modi predicted BJP would win over 200 seats in Bengal
PM Modi visited Bengal frequently before the recent virus surge
Prime Minister Narendra Modi s party lost an election in a key state he visited frequently before the recent virus surge forced him off the campaign trail, adding to growing signs of a backlash over his government s handling of the world s worst Covid-19 outbreak.
Indian PM loses key state in sign of voter backlash
Bloomberg
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party lost an election in a key state he visited frequently before the recent virus surge forced him off the campaign trail, adding to growing signs of a backlash over his government’s handling of the world’s worst COVID-19 outbreak.
In West Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s All India Trinamool Congress won about 72 percent of 292 seats up for grabs, while Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) took 77, according to results posted by the Election Commission of India yesterday.
Last month, Modi predicted that his party would win more than 200 seats in the state, which held voting over eight phases starting on March 27.
India s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wanted to win the state elections in West Bengal, not simply because political parties always do, but to prove a point. The Hindu-nationalist BJP was traditionally associated with western and northern India. If it could win West Bengal, one of the most populous states in India, it could prove that no state, however strong its incumbent party, was beyond its reach. The party’s narrative of invincibility would be reinforced ahead of the 2024 parliamentary elections. But the BJP did not win West Bengal – despite the resources poured into the state and the mass rallies held amid a lethal second wave of Covid-19. It was comfortably defeated by the incumbent All India Trinamool Congress (TMC), led by Mamata Banerjee, who was hailed by people in the state capital Kolkata as “the unvanquished” (the title of a film by Indian director Satyajit Ray, who came from Bengal and who would have been 100 on 2 May).
May 03, 2021
Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) pulled off a spectacular victory in a high-stakes electoral battle, trouncing BJP to form the government for a third consecutive term in West Bengal. courtesy Twitter
NEW DELHI The Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) pulled off a spectacular victory in a high-stakes electoral battle, trouncing BJP to form the government for a third consecutive term in West Bengal.
As per the latest data from the Election Commission, TMC is on its course to win over 210 seats in a 294-member Assembly, while BJP is likely to win 77 seats.
In the hotly contested Nandigram seat, BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari defeated his former party chief Mamata Banerjee in Nandigram. However, Mamata has moved the Election Commission requesting recounting of votes in the constituency.