As TMC wins KMC polls; Mamata Banerjee visits Kamakhya temple; eyes national politics next

Months after the landslide victory in the West Bengal assembly elections, the Trinamool Congress on Tuesday retained power in the Kolkata Municipal Corporation for the third time, with its candidates emerging triumphant in the 101 out of the 144 wards, while leading in 33 seats. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has won one seat and was leading in three wards, according to State Election Commission.

Following the massive win in KMC polls, West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee visited the Kanakhya temple in Guwahati. She also thanked the people of the metropolis for making Trinamool victorious.

Speaking to the media, 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 CPI(M) also fought against us, but they were all defeated. This victory will show the way in national politics in days to come.

KMC polls results 2021

As per the trends, the TMC has won 101 seats and is leading in 33 other wards. It has a clear majority in KMC. The saffron party candidate Mina Devi has won from ward number 22 and was leading in three wards, the Congress has won two seats while the CPI and CPI(M) are leading in one ward each, an SEC official told PTI.

In the last assembly polls, the Mamata Banerjee-led party had swept all the 16 assembly seats in Kolkata and the BJP emerged as the main challenger in all the constituencies and KCM workers in terms of vote share.  TMC MLA Debashis Kumar retained his seat in Ward number 85, another TMC MLA Atish Ghosh won in ward no 11 in north Kolkata. In ward no 118, TMC's Tarak Singh retained his ward for the third consecutive time.  In ward number 88, BJP Lok Sabha MP Mala Roy retained her seat for the sixth consecutive time. The Congress' Usman Ansari and Santosh Pathak won ward number 137 and 45, respectively.

'Violence has no place in Bengal'

TMC national general secretary and Mamata Banerjee's nephew Abhishek Banerjee thanked the people of Kolkata for supporting TMC. "People of Kolkata have once again proven that politics of HATE & VIOLENCE have NO PLACE in BENGAL! I thank everyone for blessing us with such a huge mandate. We are truly humbled and shall always remain committed in our goals towards YOUR BETTERMENT! Thank you Kolkata," he tweeted.

Meanwhile, BJP alleged that the results favouring TMC in KMC polls were due to the reign of terror that Trinamool Congress had unleashed. "This result was expected because free and fair polls didn't take place in the absence of central forces," BJP leader Shamik Bhattacharya said.

(With PTI inputs)

(Image: ANI)