Kolkata: Not only did Trinamool Congress (TMC) get humiliated and dethroned by the BJP on Monday, chief minister Mamata Banerjee lost to her bete noire Suvendu Adhikari.
It was a forgettable day for another chief minister, Tamil Nadu’s MK Stalin, who was humbled by TVK’s V S Babu by 8,795 votes in Kolathur on a day when DMK were thrown out of power. Stalin, a three-time MLA from that constituency, was swept away in the TVK tsunami, as Vijay’s party emerged the single-largest party with over 100 seats out of 234.
For most of the day, Mamata held a narrow lead. However, in the last three rounds, Suvendu galloped away as the chief minister faded quickly.
Leader of Opposition in the outgoing Assembly, Suvendu won by a convincing 15,105 votes. While Suvendu got 73,917 votes, Mamata received 58,812.
It was the second time Mamata had lost to her former close ally Suvendu. In the 2021 Assembly polls, Mamata had challenged Suvendu from his home turf of Nandigram and lost narrowly, by around 1500 votes. This time, it was much more decisive, even as Mamata cried foul.
Suvendu, who left TMC to join BJP in December 2020, months ahead of the Assembly election, won from Nandigram this time also.
Ironically, Suvendu faced a tougher fight in Nandigram, winning by a margin of under 10,000 votes against TMC’s Pabitra Kar.
Suvendu has emerged as the clear favourite to be BJP’s first chief minister of West Bengal.
