Banerjee has achieved what none in India have managed to do that too two times first defeat the Left Front in 2011 and second defeat the Left and Congress combine in 2016 (according to the exit polls).
Well, this is historic because she is the only woman in the world who has achieved this feat in the span of decade.
A fire brand leader in national politics, she has been fondly known as Agni Kanya in the state till she was the lone and loudest voice against the Left in Bengal. Interestingly, an analysis of conversations on Facebook regarding the Assembly polls across all states done by the social media giant shows the Trinamool Congress supremo as the top leader, figuring in 22 per cent of the conversations while BJP featured in 61 per cent of them.
Overall, 2.2 crore netizens discussed elections on the social media platform leading to 14.2 crore interactions, Facebook said. The data is for the period from February 12 to May 10 and covers top political parties, politicians, states and top issues, the social media giant said.
With 47 per cent mentions, Congress was second followed by AAP — 25 per cent. Interestingly, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) featured in only 6 per cent of online conversations.
In the list of most talked about politicians, Banerjee was followed by Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy who featured in 20 per cent of the conversation. Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, DMK patriarch M Karunandhi and BJP’s Sarbananda Sonowal were the other talked about leaders, Facebook said, adding among the states, Assam was most popular with conversation of 28 per cent netizens figured around it.
Crime seemed to be of utmost concern to Facebook users as one-third of election-related conversations featured the issue. Defence came a close second with 31 per cent. Foreign affairs, education and transport were other major issues.
“Facebook is making it easier for people to participate in electoral debates and have a real impact. It has become a place for people to get to know their candidates better and discuss issues they care about,” a Facebook spokesperson said.
“By providing a platform for engagement and discussion, Facebook is empowering people in India on Facebook to engage in the elections,” the spokesperson said.