Landslide win for TMC; BJP bags 1 seat

Kolkata: The Trinamool Congress Tuesday registered a landslide victory in the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) elections, winning 134 of the 144 wards. The BJP, which had emerged as the main opposition party in the Assembly polls earlier this year, won three seats, while the Left Front and Congress won two each. The Independents, with three seats, ended on an equal footing with the non-TMC parties.

Counting of votes for 144 wards of KMC began on Tuesday at 8 am. Thanking the people of Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said: “I want to dedicate this triumph to the people of the state and ‘Maa, Mati, Manush’ (mother, land and people – the slogan of TMC). Several national parties like the BJP, Congress, and CPM also fought against us, but they were all defeated. This win will show the way in national politics in days to come”. The TMC secured 72% vote share while the LF bagged 12% and the BJP 9% respectively. The Congress got 4% vote share. In the 2015 civic polls, the TMC had bagged 113 wards, the LF 15 seats and the BJP 7 seats. Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said had the election been free and fair, his party would have won in at least 12 wards. —(PTI)