TMC's Biman Banerjee elected West Bengal Assembly Speaker for third time

Biman Banerjee, the leader of the Trinamool Congress (TMC), elected Speaker of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly for the third time on Friday, May 8. For eight phases, the ruling TMC and the BJP battled it out in West Bengal. The Samyukta Morcha, which includes the Congress, Left parties, and the ISF, has also attempted to mount a strong defence. 

TMC win in West Bengal

In the recent assembly elections, Mamata Banerjee's TMC secured a landslide victory. The TMC handily defeat the BJP. According to EC data, the TMC won 213 seats and the BJP bagged 77. The Congress-Left-ISF coalition, on the other hand, failed to gain a single seat. Independent candidates, on the other hand, won two seats. With a vote share of 38.13%  to TMC's 47.94%, the BJP won 74 seats more than the previous election.

Despite this, Mamata Banerjee was defeated in Nandigram by Suvendu Adhikari, an ex-aide who had joined the BJP. Banerjee will have to be elected to the assembly within six months of taking office as the chief minister. Mamata Banerjee had expressed her dissatisfaction with the Nandigram loss. 

Mamata Banerjee, the Trinamool Congress supremo, sworn in as Chief Minister of West Bengal for the third time on Wednesday, May 3, at the Raj Bhavan. Following her commendable victory in the state's recently concluded assembly elections, Banerjee was sworn in by West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar.

Post-election situation in West Bengal

Following the TMC's victory over the BJP in Bengal elections on Sunday, May 2, violence erupted in parts of the state, with stone-pelting mobs attacking BJP and Left party offices. Some BJP candidates' homes and vehicles were allegedly targeted. The BJP offices in Arambagh, Siuri, were vandalised and set ablaze, while the BJP candidate's garage in Kolkata's Beleghata constituency was set on fire. JP Nadda, the BJP's national president, paid a visit to the victims' families, while the Ministry of Home Affairs dispatched a four-member panel to Bengal to assess the situation. While some have called for a 'President's order' in Bengal, BJP leader Gaurav Bhatia has petitioned the Supreme Court for a CBI investigation into the violence in West Bengal.

(with inputs from ANI)

Picture Credit: ANI