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Left Front retains Bengal
Riding on the popularity of Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya and its envious organisational strength, West Bengal's ruling Left Front yesterday made history by winning assembly elections for a seventh straight five-year tenure.
- IANS
- Published: 23:33 May 3, 2009
Kolkata: Riding on the popularity of Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya and its envious organisational strength, West Bengal's ruling Left Front yesterday made history by winning assembly elections for a seventh straight five-year tenure.
In what was described as a "historic victory", the nine-party Left Front, which has ruled West Bengal since 1977, bagged a whopping 235 seats of the 293 for which results were declared, leaving just 29 to the main opposition Trinamool Congress-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alliance.
The Congress got 21 while eight went to smaller parties and independents.
West Bengal's election results were never in doubt, but some had thought that the Election Commission's decision to order a five-phase balloting so as to cut any chances of vote rigging might bring down the Left's victory margin.
Such was the sweeping win that the Left Front bagged three-quarters of all seats in the 294-member assembly (polling was cancelled in one seat following the death of a candidate), with the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) itself securing a majority.
Left Front's poster boy and industry-friendly Chief Minister Bhattacharya, who won Jadavpur seat in south Kolkata with a huge margin, said: "It is not my victory but our victory. It is the victory of the people. I thank them."
In New Delhi, CPI-M leader Nilotpal Basu said: "This is a very historic victory. Even internationally there are very few parallels. This itself is a very big thing."
Frenzied victory celebrations by the CPI-M and its allies swept the state, as thousands took to the streets waving red flags and beating drums.
The 2006 poll is widely seen as a mandate for the chief minister's image as an able administrator and his pro-reforms stand.
But it is also being credited to the CPI-M and other Left Front parties' extensive organisational network that extends to every corner of West Bengal, one of India's most populous states.
The Left Front had 199 members in the outgoing assembly, followed by 60 from the Trinamool-BJP and 26 from the Congress.
The overall turnout in the five-phase poll was a whopping 81 per cent, up by seven per cent from 2001.
REACTION
Supporters go wild over victory
West Bengal's Chief Minister yesterday found it tougher to handle press photographers than the opposition.
Buddhadeb Bhattacharya and his Left Front celebrated decimating the Trinamool Congress and the Congress in the state elections yesterday.
Outside the headquarters of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the chaos continued as supporters came out in force.
The contrasting mood was sombre at the home of Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee.
Some did put on a brave front. Subrata Bakshi, who beat former mayor Subrata Mukherjee in the Chowringhee constituency, said: "We have five years now to plan out our strategy. There is no hurry."
- Subhomita Sen, Staff Writer
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