Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee is likely to have the upper hand in determining the nature of the Opposition in West Bengal.

Compared to the 2004 general elections, Trinamool increased its tally from one to 19, while the number of seats won by Congress remained static at six. In south Bengal which the Trinamool Congress swept, its alliance partner Congress failed to make a dent. The Congress, however, maintained its dominance over Malda and Murshidabad districts and Raiganj.

“True we could not increase our tally, but one must understand that the people of Bengal wanted an alliance between the Congress and Trinamool against the CPM. The result proves that,” said senior Congress leader Pradip Bhattacharjee. As per the seat-sharing agreement, the Trinamool contested 28 seats and the Congress fielded candidates in 14 constituencies. The Congress was given five seats in south Bengal, all of which it lost, and by huge margins, while the Trinamool secured comprehensive win in neighbouring constituencies.

Congress candidate in Bolpur Asit Mal lost by 1,26,862 votes to Ram Chandra Dom of the CPM, whereas Subrata Mukherjee lost by a margin of 1,07,802 votes to CPM’s Basudeb Acharya in Bankura.

In Jhargram, Congress candidate Amrit Hansda lost by a margin of 2,92,345 votes to CPM’s Pulin Bihari Baske. In Arambagh Congress’s Shambhunath Malik lost by 2,01,558 votes to CPM’s Shaktimohan Malik. In Purulia, also Shantiram Mahato of the Congress lost to Narahari Mahato of Forward Bloc.

The Congress saved its face in traditional strongholds like Malda North and South seats. In Murshidabad district, another Congress stronghold, Pranab Mukherjee won from Jangipur, Adhir Choudhury from Behrampur and Mannan Hussain from Murshidabad constituency. Deepa Dasmunsi, wife of ailing party leader Priyaranjan Dasmunsi, also won from Raiganj.

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