'Victory of the masses': Mamata Banerjee thanks West Bengal people for civic poll triumph

Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday thanked people for casting their votes in favour of the TMC, which is set to register a big win in four municipal corporations, where elections were held on February 12.

Thanking the people, Banerjee said it was “a victory of the masses.” Banerjee also said that the state administration would continue working for the cause of the common people.

The Trinamool Congress on Monday made a clean sweep in the civic polls to four municipal corporations in West Bengal -- Bidhannagar, Siliguri, Chandernagore and Asansol -- as per data available on the State Election Commission's website.

The TMC retained Bidhannagar by winning 39 out of 41 seats, but opposition BJP and the CPI(M) failed to open their account. The Congress managed to bag one seat, and an Independent candidate secured victory in one ward.

In Chandernagore, the TMC bagged 31 of the 32 seats, while the CPI(M) won in one ward. However, the icing on the cake for the ruling party was snatching the Siliguri Municipal Corporation (SMC) from the CPI(M)-led Left Front, where the TMC pocketed 37 out of 47 seats.

The BJP got the opposition status by clinching five seats, whereas the Left was relegated to the third position as it managed to win only four seats, and the Congress one, according to the SEC data.

The TMC's vote share in Siliguri was 78.72 per cent, while the BJP and CPI(M) managed 10.64 per cent and 8.5 per cent of the votes polled, respectively. An elated West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced that party leader Gautam Deb, who won by a margin of 3,000 votes, would be the next mayor of SMC.

In Asansol, the TMC emerged victorious in 66 of the 106 seats and was leading in five wards, while the BJP won in five seats, and the CPI(M) and Congress in two each. Elections to the four municipal corporations, where a total of 953 candidates were in the fray, were held on February 12.