On May 13, 2011, the counting of the votes started at 8 AM for the West Bengal Assembly Elections 2011. Earlier the polling had been completed between April 18 and May 10, in six phases. At around 12 noon, the results indicated that Paribartan had finally come to Bengal led by Mamata Banerjee. History was rewritten.
Earlier, Trinamool Chairperson Ms Mamata Banerjee had ended her campaign on 9 May, 2011, in the constituency of Jadavpur. Before campaigning ended at 17:00, she appealed to the electorate to “Help me bring about change”. People showered their blessings.
The 34 years of Left oppression were washed away by the waves of change and the slogan, Bodla Noy, Bodol Chai. Mamata Banerjee became the first woman to be the Chief Minister of West Bengal.
Since then, the Maa Mati Manush of Bengal has never left the side of Ms Mamata Banerjee and the ensuing developmental wave that swept past Bengal.
The successive wins in the Panchayat Elections in 2013, the Municipal Elections in 12 municipalities in 2013, the General elections in 2014 and the Municipal Elections in 2015 reaffirmed the faith of people on West Bengal Chief Minister Ms Mamata Banerjee and Trinamool Congress. Besides, Trinamool Congress won several by-elections that happened time to time.
Looking back:
West Bengal Assembly Election 2011
Total no of constituencies: 294
Total contestants in fray: 1792
No of electors who voted: 47464338
Polling percentage: 84.33 %
Sits won by All India Trinamool Congress: 184
Panchayat Election 2013
The Panchayat Election 2013 was the first major challenge to Trinamool Congress after the massive win in 2011.
Of the 17 districts, the Trinamool Congress won Zilla Parishads in 13 districts. Out of the 824 zilla parishad seats, the Trinamool Congress won 530 seats.
Results:
Gram Panchayat
Total no. Of Gram Panchayat- 3,215
TMC – 1,745
Panchayat Samiti
Total no. Of Panchayat Samiti – 329
TMC- 192
Zilla Parishad
Total no. Of Zilla Parishad – 17
TMC- 13
On September 21, 2014 elections were held at 12 municipalities: – Mekhliganj (Cooch Behar), Haldibari (Coochbehar), Alipurduar (Jalpaiguri), Balurghat (South Dinajpur), Dalkhola (North Dinajpur), Chakdaha (Nadia,)Panihati (North 24 Parganas), Habra (North 24 Pargana), Diamond Harbour (South 24 Parganas),Burdwan Town, Guskara (Burdwan)and Dubrajpur (Birbhum).
The Trinamool Congress continued with its streak of electoral victories in the State, winning eight of the 12 civic bodies. It won at Diamond Harbour, Habra, Guskara Burdwan, Panihati, Chakdah Balurghat and Dubrajpur.
Over 80 per cent of the 8.4 lakh voters in the State had exercised their franchise on September 21 for the elections to the civic bodies spread across nine districts in the State.
Later in the year, Municipal elections were conducted in Jhargram, Krishnnagar, Medinipur, Baharampur and Howrah. Trinamool won the election in four out of the five bodies, winning at Jhargram, Medinipur, Krishnanagar and the prestigious Howrah municipal board.
General Election 2014
The opposition parties had only one weapon to campaign against the developmental wave of Bengal under Mamata Banerjee. The major media houses were brought into alliance and a campaign of slander through television and print media tried to undermine 2 and half years of restructuring Bengal under Trinamool Congress. People of Bengal didn’t bother much before casting their votes. Out of the 42 seats, Trinamool Congress won 34, compared to 19 in 2009.
Trinamool Congress got 39.40% votes, up from 31.18% in 2009 to finish as the 4th largest party in the Lok Sabha. Around 5, 16, 22,555 people voted and the turnout of voters was 82.16%.
The Trinamool Congress had in 2009 Lok Sabha election won 19 seats. In 2014, Trinamool Congress won all these 20 seats and bagged 14 more.
Municipal Election 2015
Trinamool Congress continued its winning streak by recording a thumping majority in 71 of the 92 civic bodies in West Bengal. The party wrested control of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation by winning 114 of the 144 wards. Twelve civic bodies have no clear winner. In 2010, Trinamool won 66 municipalities.
Trinamool Congress improved its performance from 95 to 114. Of the 2,090 wards in the State, the Trinamool won an overwhelming 1,425 wards.
Assembly Election 2016
Trinamool Congress won a massive victory in the 2016 Assembly elections by winning 211 out of 294 seats.
Bottomline
It is the voice of the people that matters in democracy. The people of Bengal now know who can make their life better by bringing in actual change they had waited for years. Development speaks for itself. The Trinamool Government strives for development of the people, especially the poor, the financially backward class. People of Bengal understand this simple point and their faith on their Didi remains unhindered.
