TMC establishes political control in Jangalmahal, leads in 24 seats

Kolkata: TMC has wrested back its political control over Jangalmahal districts with its lead in 24 seats in the high-voltage Assembly polls.

TMC claimed that it is the spontaneous reaction of the masses against BJP's false assurances.

At the same time, the swing in votes in TMC's favour came as an outcome of the Duare Sarkar and Swastha Sathi projects of the Mamata Banerjee government that helped lakhs of people in these districts as well.

BJP had bagged all the Lok Sabha seats in 2019. As a result, the saffron camp had managed to get a lead in 30 out of 40 Assembly seats in Jangalmahal (12 in Bankura, 9 in Purulia, 4 in Jhargram and 15 in West Midnapore).

This time, the TMC was leading in four, three and 14 seats in Jhargram, Purulia and West Midnapore respectively. It has won four seats – Barjoira, Taldangra, Raipur and Ranibandh – leaving eight for BJP in Bankura. BJP was leading in six and one seat in Purulia and West Midnapore respectively.

Young TMC leader Sushanta Mahato was leading from Baghmundi Assembly constituency leaving behind the four-time Congress MLA, since 2001, Nepal Mahato. Independent candidate Ujjal Kumar, who was supported by TMC, at Jaipur in Purulia, however, lost. Former Paschimanchal Unnayan minister Shantiram Mahato lost by only 423 votes from Balarampur Assembly constituency.

"Number of seats in Jangalmahal went up to 24 this time from 10 compared to that of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. We have regained ground that we had lost for no fault of ours. People were actually misguided by the BJP's false assurances. This time, they have realised that TMC can only ensure overall development," said TMC's Bankura district president Shyamal Santra, adding that the number of seats would have gone up if the party had performed better in Bishnupur.

The highest increase in BJP's vote percentage in 2019 Lok Sabha polls was in Purulia and it was 42.15 percent in Purulia. In Jangalmahal, BJP's vote percentage was 47.54 percent while that of Trinamool Congress was 39.5 percent. It was 5.88 percent for the Left Front. BJP's vote percentage in Jangalmahal in 2014 Parliamentary elections, 2016 Assembly polls and 2018 Panchayat elections were 20 percent, 17 percent and 27 percent respectively.

This time, TMC has become successful in once again increasing its vote percentage in Jangalmahal where the party supremo had restored peace after coming to power in 2011.