Mamata calls TMC's greenwash 'people's victory', greets winners

KOLKATA: Trinamool Congress (TMC) chairperson Mamata Banerjee and party's national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee congratulated the masses for their overwhelming support to ensure a landslide victory of the candidates in the by-elections in four Assembly seats, whose results were announced on Tuesday.

Mamata Banerjee tweeted: "My heartiest congratulations to all the four winning candidates! This victory is people's victory, as it shows how Bengal will always choose development and unity over propaganda and hate politics. With people's blessings, we promise to continue taking Bengal to greater heights."

TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee tweeted: "A cracker free Diwali in true sense. Wishing folks at @BJP4India a very Happy Diwali! heights!"

Trinamool Congress secretary general Partha Chatterjee said: "We knew that this was going to happen. People support Mamata Banerjee. She is the only reliable face in the country. Today's victory is one step forward to win India. In 2021, BJP's downfall had begun. Today's results expedited the downhill journey."

Meanwhile, political experts said sheer organisational strength and a band of dedicated workers have helped Trinamool to win handsomely in all the four seats, where by-elections were held.

When Trinamool Congress (TMC) was set up by Mamata Banerjee on January 1, 1998 people thought this party was not going to last long as they used to compare the organisational strength of CPI(M) with TMC.

Some political experts believed that the CPI(M) had set up their organisation by getting maximum help from the police. They alleged that there was a Secretariat member of the Kolkata district committee of the party who used to look after Kolkata Police.

Similarly, in the districts there were leaders who kept liaison with the cops. The CPI(M) organisation had received a major setback in the Panchayat elections in 2008 when it lost in Zilla Parishads, namely, South 24-Parganas and East Midnapore. In the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, the party received another blow followed by the polls in the Kolkata Municipal Corporation in 2010.

In 2011, the party was thrown out of power. After the defeat, it has failed to regain lost ground and has been reduced to just a group of volunteers.

Political experts maintained that TMC, over the years, has increased its organisational strength under Abhishek. In the by-elections, he had visited all the four constituencies with a host of leaders whose list had been prepared. In the 2021 Assembly elections, Mamata Banerjee in the wheelchair alongside Abhishek, had reached almost all the constituencies. The party has the names of all the booth-level workers and leaders and there is regular interaction with them.

"The party is keeping a tab on all the leaders and any slip will be dealt with seriously. It has very successfully given the message that there is only one leader — Mamata Banerjee — and the rest are workers. In every district, there is a well-knit organisational set-up where the old and the new leaders have been accommodated," the political analysts opined.

"This has paid TMC a dividend and the Opposition will be washed away in all the subsequent elections just because they have failed to improve their organisation," they observed.