Kolkata: Parliamentary elections
This is a collection of articles archived for the excellence of their content. |
2014
Trinamool still leads in Kolkata, but BJP proves it is no 'balloon'
TEAM TOI
The record books have to be re-written in Kolkata. Tri namool Congres retained Kolkata North, Kolkata South, Jadavpur and Dum Dum but it is BJP that stole the limelight. The Modi wave-dismissed by chief minister Mamata Banerjee as `phanush' (balloon)--swept the city , relegating Left Front to a dismal and distant third.
To gauge the extent of BJP's impact, you don't have to look beyond Kolkata South, Bengal's largest constituency . Bhowanipore assembly segment--with 16,84,543 voters-has given BJP a lead by 184 votes. Mamata not only represents it in the assembly but also calls it home. In Kolkata North, BJP's Rahul Sinha bagged 25.9% votes and closed the gap with winner Sudip Bandyopadhyay to 96,073.
The implications of BJP's surge run much deeper. The city corporation polls are slated for 2015--North and South Kolkata account for 65 wards. BJP will aim to do well in it to emerge as a potent factor in the 2016 assembly elections.
The Left, like before, failed to exploit anti-incumbency the way BJP could.
Mamata, on the other hand, occupied the Left space, with her party getting the majority share of the urban poor and a sizeable section of the middle class votes.
In Jadavpur and Dum Dum, too, BJP did well. But TMC's Sugata Bose nearly doubled his predecessor's victory margin in Jadavpur and Saugata Roy increased it by thrice in Dum Dum to 1.54 lakh.
