The ruling Trinamul won 1,747 of 1,976 wards where results had been declared till 4pm, according to the Election Commission, and established control over 103 of the 108 civic bodies across the 20 districts of the state. Of the civic bodies it controls, there is no Opposition presence in 31.
So far, the BJP has won 63, CPM 46, Congress 58, Independents 117, Forward Bloc 3, CPI 3 and RSP 1. Results for 51 of the total 2,274 wards have not been announced as yet. Of the remaining 82, Trinamul was leading in 77, CPM 4 and an Independent in one.
“Heart-felt gratitude to Ma-Mati-Manush for according yet another overwhelming mandate to us. Congratulations to the winning candidates of All India Trinamool Congress in the Municipal elections,” tweeted chief minister Mamata Banerjee in the afternoon. “Let victory enhance our responsibility and dedication. Let triumph impart humility. Let us work together for peace, prosperity and development of the state. Jai Bangla," she added.
Keeping the CPM behemoth aside, Bengal’s politics has largely been dominated by charismatic leaders through the decades since independence, yet very few of them have managed a dynasty, a legacy.
In most of the cases, like the Ghani Khan Chowdhury family of Maldah, the legacy has since long been done and dusted with. Likewise, leaders like Priya Ranjan Das Munshi and Somen Mitra have been relegated to the pages of history.
On Wednesday, only one charismatic leader with a promise of a dynasty and legacy stood tall as another dominant family in South Bengal, the Adhikaris, fell.
In Bengal politics till March 2, 2022, only the Banerjee family of 30B Harish Chatterjee Lane in the Bhowanipore area of south Calcutta stood with its pride intact as the Trinamul swept the civic polls.
The only consolation for the Opposition was the Left retaining the Taherpur municipality in Nadia. On the other hand, in Darjeeling, a three-month-old party, the Hamro Party, formed the board winning 13 wards, followed by the Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha’s three, the Trinamul’s two and one going to the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha, which till a decade ago called the shots in the hills.
As counting is still in progress, three of the municipalities are hung, including Hooghly’s Champdani, the home of Congress veteran Abdul Mannan, Purulia’s Jhalda and Egra in East Midnapore.
The overwhelming victory of the Trinamul was never in doubt. The only question was would the party be able to make it clean sweep (108-nil), something that even the Left in its heydays could not achieve.
So far, even Mamata has not been able to achieve that despite its dominant position in the affairs of the state. Sunday's polling was marred by Opposition allegations of widespread electoral malpractices, prompting Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar _ he has running feud with the Mamata government _ to describe the civic election prosess as "war".
The humiliation of Mamata’s Nandigram defeat was somewhat avenged as the Adhikaris, who have lorded over the two Midnapores even when it was undivided, lost not just the Contai municipality (it was with the Trinamul in the previous term) but even in their own ward 35 where the Adhikari residence, Shantikunj, is situated, the BJP nominee lost.
Suvendu Adhikari, son of veteran leader Sisir, who has remained a Trinamul MP only on paper, went on silent mode as the BJP suffered setbacks in areas where it had established its footprints in the last Lok Sabha polls like Kharagpur, Jalpaiguri, Cooch Behar, Bankura with not a single civic board falling in its kitty.
The state BJP has scheduled a press conference for later in the day, but Suvendu is missing from the name of speakers.
State Congress president Adhir Chowdhury’s home turf has gone to the Trinamul, putting a question mark over his own future as an MP in the next Lok Sabha polls.
“The results are not a reflection of people’s will. Didi’s party did not pose any faith in the voters and instead used police and goons to loot votes,” said Chowdhury.
