West Bengal election results 2019: Time for TMC reality check as BJP makes inroads

KOLKATA: With BJP garnering two-fifth of the Lok Sabha seats in Bengal, it is time for a reality check by Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool. Trinamool, which had set its sights on Delhi in the run-up to the polls, suffered stunning loss in multiple seats to a party, which had won only two seats in 2014.

If Thursday’s results are extrapolated from the trend at 294 assembly segments in the state, it could signal BJP’s inroad into nearly 120 seats.The results, however, threw up a couple of heartening factors: Trinamool has won all the seats in and around Kolkata and that it has more or less maintained its vote share, slipping by just 1.6% from the record 44.9% votes it polled at the state elections three years ago.
“Congratulations to the winners. All the losses are not defeats. We have to do a complete review and then, we will share our views with you. Let the counting process be completed fully and the VVPATs matched,” said chief minister and Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee.
With the final results yet to be declared and the faultlines assessed, Trinamool declined to give a formal statement. Banerjee remained in her Kalighat home, where Kolkata mayor Firhad Hakim, Diamond Harbour MP Abhishek Banerjee and a few cabinet ministers met her during the day. The familiar scenes of celebrations with aabir were replaced with tense party workers trying to gauge the implications of the results. For the first time, they tasted serious reverses after the party came to power in Bengal in 2011.
According to a preliminary assessment by the party, Trinamool faced a rout in north Bengal and reverses in the tribal-dominated Jangal Mahal. The party’s hopes in Darjeeling were dashed, losing both the Lok Sabha and the assembly seats (bypoll elections). In Darjeeling, Trinamool’s Amar Singh Rai trailed by 3.8 lakh votes, despite the Mamata Banerjee government trying it best to put the Hills on the development track. Moreover, the party lost Cooch Behar, Alipurduar, Jalpaiguri, Balurghat, Raigunj and Uttar Malda to BJP.
In Murshidabad, Trinamool did win two seats — Jangipur and Murshidabad — but its hopes were completely decimated in the two Malda Lok Sabha seats. The losing spree continued in Jhargram, Purulia and two Bankura Lok Sabha seats in Jangal Mahal. Sources said the strategy to send poll veterans Subrata Mukherjee to contest Bankura and Manas Bhuniya in Midnapore appeared to have backfired. Losing Barrackpore and Ranaghat has also apparently rankled Kalighat. The party’s internal assessments of winning anything from 31 to 34 LS seats turned out to be way off the mark, indicating a gross error in its assessment of the ground reality.
Trinamool’s better-than-expected results in Kolkata and South 24 Paraganas, however, failed to enthuse party leaders. The party has performed badly in several Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) wards, setting up a fresh challenge ahead of the civic polls in 2020. For instance, the party has won in several wards in Bhowanipore and Rashbehari assembly segments in Kolkata South. But BJP has significantly improved its vote share in all these seats, with the percentage ranging between 28% in Jadavpur and 38.27% in Dum Dum.
The loss had suddenly put the ruling party in Bengal in a tricky position, admitted senior leaders. “With the Left Front wiped out and Congress relegated only to Malda and Murshidabad, BJP is the main opposition now. However, as it happens in a two-way contest, there are candidates, who lost today even after getting over 40% of the total vote share. In any other election, they could have been comfortable winners,” a leader said. The Mukul Roy factor appeared to have played a critical role in North 24 Parganas (Barrackpore and Bongaon), Nadia (Ranaghat), party leaders pointed out. “This should have been addressed more cohesively,” a leader said. Internal bickering also sealed the fates of Trinamool candidates in quite a few seats, he added.