A Chief Minister camping in his or her constituency for four consecutive days is a rare incidence, as generally the top leaders tour the whole state. But this time Nandigram, the new constituency of Bengal Chief Minister, kept Mamata Banerjee busy in and around it for so many days.
And on the day of polling, the CM waited in her rented house in the constituency till noon. Thereafter she went to a booth in the Boyal village, apparently from where she received some complaints. And then she got stuck for two hours as a large crowd—some her supporters and some BJP’s—gathered there. Finally, she left the booth in presence of a large consignment of force as at a distance people shouted ‘Jai Shri Ram’. From there, Chief Miniter went to a local party office close by Nandigram police station and held meetings with her party colleagues.
Mamata Banarjee has still claimed that she would win Nandigram. But too many ominous scenes have marred her ‘fighter’ image in the mind of the people. She was seen in a foul mood, and came up with allegations against everyone, from the central forces and Union Home Minister Amit Shah to the Election Commission. She informed the media that the TMC has lodged 63 complaints about the Nandigram election. She sought the help of the Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankhar, the very man whom he considered a “BJP agent’ and declined to cooperate with. Hours before the polls ended, she declared they would move the court about irregularities in Nandigram.
While Mamta looked tensed, her opponent Suvendu Adhikary was seen in a jovial mood all through. “Begum harchhe (the Begum is losing),” he remarked cryptically. He claimed the TMC would lose all the 30 constituencies that went to polls today. Even Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister, came forward to poke the Didi. While addressing a public meeting at Uluberia he said, “What has happened in Nandigram (shows) Didi has conceded defeat.”
Meanwhile, a very high voter turnout in the second phase too has made the BJP euphoric. According to primary estimates, at five in the evening, the turnout was 72.25 per cent. It means the final figure will go well beyond 80 per cent. This is quite unusual. The voter turnout analysts claim a higher turnout indicates an anti-incumbency wave. This is not good news for Didi.