TMC heading for two-thirds majority in Bengal

Fighting incumbency and the opposition alliance of Left and Congress, the Trinamool Congress was today surging towards a two-thirds majority having already bagged 177 seats and leading in another 34 constituencies.

In the 294-member Assembly, the Left-Congress alliance did not make much of an impact despite prediction to the contrary by political pundits, as it captured 49 seats and was leading in 24 others.

The Congress, however, did better than its Left allies winning 29 seats and was leading in 15 seats. CPI(M) bagged 18 seats and is ahead in eight. The BJP won three seats including the victory of the state party president Dilip Ghosh. The party had only one member in the outgoing Assembly. In Darjeeling hills, Gorkha Janmukti Morcha won three seats.

Banerjee, who won from Bhabanipur constituency by 25,301 votes, said that "contesting on its own TMC got two-thirds majority fighting the entire opposition".

Other prominent TMC ministers who won included Amit Mitra, Partha Chatterjee, Subrata Mukherjee, Firhad Hakim, Moloy Ghatak and city mayor Sovan Chatterjee.

The ministers who lost included Manish Gupta, Chandrima Bhattacharya, Krishnendu Narayan Chowdhury and Sabitri Mitra. Another priminent TMC leader Madan Mitra who was in jail in connection with Saradha chit fund scam, lost.

CPI-M state secretary Surjya Kanta Mishra was defeated in Narayangarh constituency in West Midnapore. TMC swept the metropolis here winning all the 11 seats.

Former Bengal cricket captain Laxmi Ratan Shukla won the Howrah North seat on a Trinamool Congress ticket.

Banerjee said that elected members of TMC will meet here tomorrow to elect their leader. The new TMC government will take oath on May 27, she said.