KOLKATA: If there can be a woman behind every successful man, why can't there be the same for every successful woman! One such interesting news is emerging from Bhabanipur, the constituency which gave Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee a resounding election victory, much to the surprise of her political opponents in the country. While Mamata is all set to become the 'official' Chief Minister of West Bengal, meet the unsung heroes who helped her retain the high seat of office in the state.
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Some of them were ministers, some MLAs, while some have blood relations with the CM, some did not. But in true sense, they were her 'brothers and trusted generals' in the recently concluded Bhabanipur by-election. They virtually knocked each door in the constituency scouting votes for their party's supreme leader. Now, these unsung heroes have become the chief minister's ' trusted generals'.
Why Mamata's team needs a pat
Five months back, when agriculture minister Sovondeb Chattopadhyay contested from Bhabanipur his margin was just 28,719 votes. On the other hand, Mamata's margin have crossed the 58,000 mark despite a low voters’ turnout at slightly over 57 per cent. Besides, Chattopadhyay was trailing in two wards namely 70 and 74 by over 2,000 and 537 votes respectively. So, ensuring lead for the CM from these two wards was became a real challenge for Trinamool Congress leaders. The bigger challenge was to ensure a bigger winning margin when the chief minister distributed ward-specific assignment to the team members.
The responsibility for Ward Number 63 was entrusted on party veteran and Panchayat Minister Subrata Mukherjee. If Chattopadhya managed to get a lead of 413 votes in this ward, Mamata got a margin of 2,366 votes; a five fold rise in just five months.
The responsibility for ward number 70 rested with the legislator from Rashbehari, Debasish Kumar, who virtually made this ward his home since the election dates were announced. Kumar, a veteran in municipal politics, was equally successful to a winning margin of 1,500 votes for the chief minister.
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The party’s secretary general, Partha Chattopadhyay, along with the Subrata Bakshi was given the charge of ward number 72. The duo ensured a victory margin of around 3,500 votes.
In ward No 74, Chattopadhyay was trailing by about 550 votes. Mamata divided the responsibility of this ward among Firhad Hakim, Arup Biswas and Kalyan Bandopadhyay. The trio was successful in ensuring a margin of around 5,000 votes from this ward for the chief minister five months later. Hakim also played a crucial role in ensuring the chief minister’s comfortable winning margin from two other wards.
When it comes to turnout in ward number 77, the voter turnout was 85 per cent. This time the voter’s turnout was lower at around 60 percent, but secured 300 votes more than Chattopadhyay who secured a lead of 21,379 votes.
Ward number 82, which is Hakim’s own ward, has also made the chief minister happy. Five months back, Chattopadhyay’s margin from this ward, was around 3,000. This time, it gave Mamata a lead of 12,000 votes.
