New Delhi: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has proved that her popularity is no match in the state by defeating her rival Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Priyanka Tibrewal by a record margin of over 58,000 votes in the Bhawanipur Assembly bypoll.
With this resounding victory, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo has also avenged his defeat in Nandigram against BJP’s hero turned rival Suvendu Adhikari.
Apart from this, he has also ensured to continue as the Chief Minister for the next five years.
After such a massive victory, the TMC supremo’s stature in the opposition camp has apparently increased further on the national stage.
Banerjee, who had previously crushed the Left’s prospects in West Bengal for nearly three decades, prevented the BJP from coming to power in the state in the 2021 assembly elections despite the saffron party’s strenuous efforts.
Looking at the political history of the TMC chief, she has been a charismatic leader who once surprised everyone by defeating senior CPM leader and former Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee.
Banerjee, who was a seven-time Lok Sabha MP, had earlier handled important responsibilities from the Ministry of Railways to the Ministry of Coal.
The TMC supremo, who has been the Chief Minister of West Bengal for the last 10 years, had earlier defeated Chatterjee by a record margin of 19,660 votes in 1984.
He was also rewarded for this feat and was made Minister of State for Sports in the cabinet of former Prime Minister Late Rajiv Gandhi.
However, Banerjee did not like being part of the opposition party in West Bengal during the Left rule.
She took to the streets of West Bengal, struggling and battling injuries and building a network with her allies to help topple the Left government.
The TMC supremo not only sensed the farmers’ protest against land acquisition in Nandigram and Singur, but also made political use of them.
Claiming to be the voice of the poor, Banerjee targeted the Left and eventually took over as the Chief Minister of West Bengal in 2011.
Even Banerjee, fondly known as ‘Didi’, could not have imagined such a resounding victory as the TMC alliance won 226 seats in the 294-member West Bengal Assembly in 2011.
The TMC alone got 184 seats in its bag, while the Left was reduced to just 40 seats.
After such a humiliating defeat, the Left has not been able to rise again in West Bengal till date.
Despite such huge popularity in the state, the TMC led by Banerjee won the West Bengal assembly elections held earlier this year, but faced defeat.
He had given up his traditional Bhabnipur assembly seat and decided to contest from Nandigram against his disciple-turned-rival Suvendu Adhikari.
The TMC supremo’s announcement stunned many political pundits at the time. Banerjee’s decision certainly benefited her party, but she lost in the assembly elections from Nandigram by a narrow margin of 1,956 votes.
In such a situation, after the victory in Bhawanipur, Banerjee has once again proved that she is no match in terms of popularity in West Bengal.
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