Kolkata: Buoyed by the remarkable showing of her party in the civic elections in West Bengal, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee Wednesday demanded immediate
Assembly elections, saying that Left Front major CPI(M) has lost all right to continue in power.
Terming her party`s success as "historic", she told reporters after arriving from Delhi that "the CPI(M) has lost all right to continue in power in the state. Assembly elections should be held immediately.
"It is a victory of the ma-mati-manush (mother, land and the people). They have given a verdict in favour of political change in the state. I salute the people."
In an obvious reference to her party`s failed alliance with ally Congress for the Kolkata Municipal Corporation elections, Banerjee said, "In this election we had to fight
against the ruling party and three to four other forces."
She said that out of the 81 municipalities across the state, her party would rule in 51, and added that this win would help her party undertake development work.
The Trinamool Congress has stormed to power in the prestigious KMC with a two-thirds majority besides registering impressive wins in other civic bodies.
The TMC leader earlier said that she had full faith in the people of the state.
Before leaving for Kolkata, where the party swept a majority of the seats in the polls held Sunday, Banerjee said it was too early to reach any conclusion about the results.
"I have full faith in people. It`s too early to come to any conclusion," Banerjee, also the railway minister, told a private TV news channel.
Congress concedes defeat
Senior Congress leader and Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee Wednesday congratulated Trinamool Congress chief and Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee for the "excellent performance" of her party in the West Bengal civic polls.
Pranab, who is also the chief of the Congress in the state, accepted the failure of his party in the elections held to 81 municipal bodies, including the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), ahead of next year`s crucial assembly polls.
"I would like to congratulate Mamata Banerjee for her excellent performance," Mukherjee said, accepting that the Congress has done "badly" in the elections.
"I accept the verdict of the people," Mukherjee said.
The Trinamool Congress won the KMC elections with a huge margin. The initial results of other municipal corporations across the state also indicate a victory for the party.
The elections were held a year after the Lok Sabha polls that saw the Trinamool Congress-Congress combine along with the Socialist Unity Centre of India decimate the ruling Left Front.
But the political equations have substantially changed this time around. The Trinamool Congress and the Congress failed to clinch a seat-sharing deal.
IANS
