Meanwhile, two major Left Front partners, the RSP and the Forward Bloc, said the outcome of municipal poll was not totally unexpected.

“The result is not totally unexpected but at the same time, we did not expect such a poor showing,” PWD minister and senior RSP leader Kshiti Goswami said. The minister admitted that the trend of votes for a change has been further established through municipal polls. “People want change,” he said.

Goswami claimed anti-incumbency was a big factor. “When people have opted for change, it is difficult to check it.” For the Left Front to stage a comeback, he said “we have to take up concrete programmes, go to the people and implement them”.

Veteran Forward Bloc leader Ashok Ghose said land acquisition by the government had its repercussions. He said “the people in the state are basically Left-minded and that is why even Trinamool Congress in its Lok Sabha poll manifesto had mentioned issues which were essentially highlighted by Left parties”.