Mamata scripts history; Jaya, Gogoi win big

While Mamata Banerjee rewrote history by unseating the Left after 34 years in West Bengal, J Jayalalithaa in Tamil Nadu returned to power on Friday in state assembly polls conducted in April-May.

Congress also won back Kerala with a narrow margin of seats while it won big way in Assam.

In Puducherry, the AINRC-AIADMK combine ousted Congress on the other hand.

The biggest trophy of the day however belongs to Mamata Banerjee.

The small car Nano, which faced the wrath of Bengal’s Didi over farmland acquisition, finally took the Marxists of Bengal for a ride to a no man’s land of political wilderness.

Mamata Banerjee’s over two decades of tirade against the communists in West Bengal, finally bore a tangible result, riding on the anti-car factory movement, as she ended the over 34-year rule of the Left Front in the state.

Nothing can beat the contribution of Nano, the cheapest car of the world from Tata Motors, to the win of Mamata Banerjee and the loss of communists as the wonder automobile proved dearest for the Left whose misfortune started with the forcible acquisition of the farmlands of Singur for the project in 2006.

The Left could retain neither the Nano nor their stranglehold in their flagship state.

“The arrogance of power brought their end,” said political analyst Paranjoy Guha Thakurta.

Now, the firebrand leader and Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee would be the next chief minister of West Bengal. She called on Governor MK Narayanan in the evening.

The communists survived the fall of Berlin Wall and collapse of Soviet Union, but the struggle that began in the green fields of Singur and travelled through the bloodied Nandigram hamlets, finally ended in a landslide and truly historic victory of Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee.

?This is the victory of people, of Ma, Mati and Manush [Mother, Soil and People],? said Mamata Banerjee, reiterating her favourite slogan, after it became certain that she is all set to be the next chief minister of West Bengal.

Her alliance partner Congress also did not try to take away the credit.

“Mamata has struggled a lot. This victory is the result of her struggle,? Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said.

“The people of Bengal voted for Mamata and it is mandate for Mamata,” he said.

Wild jubilations by Trinamool Congress supporters swept the state as people blew conch shells and played with green (the colour of Trinamool) abir and thronged the Kalighat residence of Mamata Banerjee.

West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee lost his seat by over 16,000 votes in Jadavpur and resigned as the chief minister.

According to the final result tally, the Trinamool Congress-Congress combine has won 225 seats while the Left Front managed 63. Other parties won six seats.

In Tamil Nadu, it is the return of Amma again as her party AIADMK bagged 204 seats against 30 by DMK.

Tamil Nadu’s chief minister in waiting J Jayalalithaa, whose party All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) got a landslide victory over the DMK, said the state has to be built again since the outgoing government has ruined it completely.

“It is not an easy task to rebuild an entire state. We have to clear away the debris and build the entire house,” she said.

“It is a difficult task, but we take up the challenge for the people of Tamil Nadu,” she said.

She said people were totally disgusted with the DMK and when they got a chance they threw out the government.

“I thank the people. It is their victory,” she said.

In another southern state Kerala, the Congress alliance wrested power from the left.

Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) will form the next government in Kerala as they defeated the Left Democratic Front (LDF), led by the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) by a narrow margin of two seats on Friday.

Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan (CPI-M), who himself won the seat he contested, said he will file his resignation on Saturday.

As the counting for the 140-seat Assembly concluded on Friday, neck-to-neck race finally tilted in favour of the UDF that took home 72 seats, up 31 from last time, while leaving 68 for the Left, down 24.

In Puducherry, AINRC-AIADMK combine secured a majority in the 30-member Assembly, ousting the ruling Congress.

In a verdict that mirrored neighbouring Tamil Nadu, the Congress-DMK alliance in state faltered managing mere ten seats while the AINRC (All India NR Congress) coalition walked away with 20 seats.

Former Chief Minister N Rangasamy, who broke away from the Congress to float his own party, is expected to form the next government as his All-India NR Congress registered 14 seats alone.

In Assam in Northeast, Congress romped back home.

Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi led his party into a straight third win with the Congress getting well beyond the majority mark.

In the state, the major fight was between the the ruling Congress and the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and final figures showed the incumbent bagging 76 seats while the AGP got 10 seats and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) 4.