Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress decimated the Left Front after its 34-year-old imperious rule in West Bengal, taking out at the same time the leader and face of the red combine, former chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee.
In Tamil Nadu, the electorate gave a resounding verdict against DMK corruption, bringing back to power J Jayalalitha who faces a few corruption cases herself.
But the DMK's telecom graft -- the largest in the country's history -- swept the incumbents out of Tamil Nadu.
In Kerala, after a hard day's neck and neck fight, the UDF won by a razor-thin margin of 72-68.
In Assam, the ruling Congress emerged as the single largest party in contention for a third successive term.
Another close fight -- this time in Puducherry between the Congress alliance and the All-India NR Congress -- didn't go well in the Congress' favour at the end of the day.
At the threshold of much-needed change in West Bengal, Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee simply said: "I will be happy if people triumph."
And, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee put in his papers early afternoon. He was trailing then.
Bhattacharjee finally lost by over 16,000 votes from Jadavpur in South Kolkata. His Trinamool opponent was former chief secretary Manish Gupta who served under him.
M Karunanidhi followed suit and resigned a little before 3 pm, even before the final tally had come in. Karunanidhi won by over 50,000 votes from Tiruvarur.
Riding a wave of change in a state where Left ideology ruled the roost for over three decades, Mamata along with allies Congress and SUCI gave a severe thrashing to the Left Front. The Banerjee-led alliance was set to capture over two-thirds majority by winning over 225 seats in the 294 seat Assembly. Mamata, Railway Minister at the Centre, did not contest the elections.
Friday, May 13, 2011
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