Don't want to see Left as zero: Mamata Banerjee on CPI(M) whitewash in West Bengal Assembly polls

CPI(M) drew a blank in West Bengal in the state Assembly elections, failing to secure a single seat in 294 constituencies. First time since 1947, the CPI(M) won't be a part of the state legislation.

Much to the party's surprise, it found sympathy from an unlikely corner. TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee, who dethroned the Left Front government after a record 34-year-long rule in 2011, expressed her dismay at the Left party failing to secure any seat, according to an NDTV report.

"If they had won seats instead of BJP it would have been good," Mamata was quoted as saying, adding that she would rather have the Left as the Opposition than the BJP.

West Bengal Assembly Election Results 2021: Full list of winners

"I am opposed to them politically but I don't want to see them as zero," said the Chief Minister.

That, however, was where her sympathy ended.

Mamata claimed that the party had "become a signboard" in their "overzealousness to favour the BJP." She said that the party must introspect.

The CPI(M) had tied up with the Congress and Muslim cleric Abbas Siddique's Indian Secular Front (ISF) to form Sanjukta Morcha. The Morcha won a grand total of one seat, which the ISF secured in South 24 Parganas' Bhangar.