TMC’s stunning performance achieved against all odds

Kolkata

TMC’s performance was all the more creditable as it contested the election on its own, unlike in 2011 when it had allied with the Congress. An analysis of the results indicate that TMC vote percentage also increased compared to the 2011 Assembly polls and the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

TMC secured 44.9 per cent of the total votes polled, compared to 39 per cent in 2011 and 39.03 per cent in 2014. Political observers noted that the TMC supremo achieved the stunning victory despite several odds stacked against her including the Saradha scam, the Narada sting ex pose and the Vivekananda flyover collapse.

On the other hand, the CPM-led Left Front and Congress which had formed an alliance have failed to put up a creditable show.

CPM’s vote percentage fell to 19.7 per cent this time from 29.58 per cent in 2011 Assembly election. In 2014 Lok Sabha poll, the party had captured nearly 23 per cent vote. The combined vote share of the Left Front was also reduced to nearly 24 per cent from 41 per cent in 2011.

The Congress, however, benefited from the alliance and bettered its vote percentage this time to 12.3, compared to 9.09 per cent in 2011, when it had contested in alliance with TMC. In 2014 Lok Sabha poll, Congress’s vote share in the state was around 9.6 per cent.