Left pulls out a stunner, emerges as runners-up in terms of vote share in Kolkata civic polls

The Trinamool Congress bagged nearly 72 per cent of votes. The second position went to the Left Front, which has managed to get a little over 11 per cent of votes in its kitty. The BJP could manage about 9 per cent, leaving around 4.47 per cent of vote share for Congress, writes Dipankar Bose, News Coordinator, ETV Bharat West Bengal.

Kolkata:The campaigns were a strong indicator. Then came voting day and again it was evident as to what could be the outcome of the 2021 Kolkata Municipal Corporation election. No prizes for guessing that the ruling Trinamool Congress would romp the maximum number of seats and form the civic body's board for the third consecutive term. But, all eyes were fixed on the second spot. The question which really did the rounds was, will BJP be able to grab the space or will it be the Left Front or the Congress?

As the results are declared, it has now become clear that it is not the BJP, but the Left Front which has bagged the second largest vote share in the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) election. BJP is a distant third and Congress has been reduced to a minion.

In terms of seats, the saffron party can claim that they can be officially called as the opposition party in the KMC. They have won three seats in comparison to two seats each of the Left and the Congress. Three independent candidates have also emerged as winners. In view of the staggering figure of 134 seats of the Trinamool Congress in the 144-ward KMC, the opposition's figures are dismal. But, a deeper look into the statistics, indicate that the second best choice of the Kolkatans has been the Left and not the BJP. In fact, initial reports indicate that CPI(M) alone has secured more vote share in Kolkata, than the BJP.

Percentage of vote share shows the Trinamool Congress bagging nearly 72 per cent of votes. The second position goes to the Left Front, which has managed to get a little over 11 per cent of votes in its kitty. The BJP could manage about 9 per cent, leaving around 4.47 per cent of vote share for the Congress. Trinamool Congress has won all 16 Boroughs of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation.

In the last KMC elections of 2015, BJP had won seven wards. The saffron party's morale got enough boost after the 2019 Lok Sabha elections where the party calculated that it had won 22 wards of the civic body when the vote shares were analysed. But, the slide happened earlier this year when the Assembly election results were out. BJP was staring at only 12 wards, where they were in the lead position. Interestingly, BJP had leads in two wards of Bhabanipur Assembly segment, but Trinamool Congress wrested both wards from them when Mamata Banerjee won the Bhabanipur bypoll.

The BJP had secured around 15.42 per cent of votes during the 2015 KMC election. Much water has flown down the Ganges since then. Though it has emerged as the principal opposition party in the Assembly, yet when it came to winning Kolkata, it failed miserably.

On the other hand, the Left Front has been witnessing a gradual surge in their vote share since the Assembly bypolls. The Left has been traditionally strong in the rural areas of the state and the hinterland of Kolkata. But, its vote shares did not slip to single digit in the March-April Assembly elections. From Jadavpur (27.57%), Kasba (17.56%), Tollygunge (20.57%), Behala Paschim (20.49%), Behala Purba (13.60%), Shyampukur (10.52%), Maniktala (10.16%) to Kashipur-Belgachia (10.94%), the Left had maintained its double-digit vote share in KMC areas.

The Left Front has been literally decimated by the Trinamool Congress since 2011 and then bulldozed by the BJP. But, in the KMC election, the Left Front had contested from 128 wards and had won two seats. Incidentally, they are in second place in 65 wards, according to latest reports. Whereas, the BJP had contested from all 144 wards (two candidates later withdrew) and had won three seats. What is striking is, BJP has emerged in the second position in 54 wards, much less than the Left, even though they contested more seats.

The Left Front had scored a naught in the 2019 Lok Sabha and the Assembly elections held earlier this year. Their vote share has witnessed a steady decline in election after election. But, the figures since the bypolls of October are showing a slow turnaround. Now, with the statistics of the KMC election, can the Left say that their good days are returning? Again no prizes for answering this in the negative. The Left leaders of Bengal can only salivate the numbers and say, when no poll pundit gave them a single seat in Kolkata, they managed to win two and emerge as the second best.