A ground report of why the people of the state turned the tide in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, marking a landmark BJP victory in the region
Fifty-year-old Kali Chaurasiya, a resident of CR Avenue in Kolkata and the owner of a hardware business shop, danced non-stop for 30 minutes for media cameras, celebrating the victory of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
He told correspondents that it was clear by 9 am itself that Narendra Modi is set to return for a second term as Prime Minister. Many such celebrations could be witnessed in Kolkata as the Lok Sabha election results came trickling in.
By 4.30 pm, the situation was clear. While the Trinamool Congress (TMC) won 22 seats, the BJP came close with 19 seats. In terms of vote share, the TMC polled 42 percent votes whereas the BJP secured 41 percent. This is the saffron party's biggest victory in West Bengal.
While the BJP cadre and supporters revelled the party's landmark performance, the TMC maintained a stony silence. TMC supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee scheduled a press conference, postponed it and then called it off.
"The result has proved that the Mamata government is going to fall apart. The people of Bengal have provided her with a befitting reply after what she has done to them," said Raju Banerjee, general secretary of the BJP’s West Bengal unit.
BJP leaders and Lok Sabha candidates such as Locket Chatterjee, Babul Supriyo, party state president Dilip Ghosh and Jyotirmoy Mahato led the fight and won by handsome margins.