The Trinamool Congress’ resounding victory in the West Bengal assembly polls was somewhat marred by the defeat suffered by seven of its outgoing Cabinet ministers.

To complicate matters further, the party has ceded space in its stronghold of Purba Medinipur to the Left-Congress alliance.

Outgoing power minister Manish Gupta’s loss to the Left-Congress combine’s Sujon Chakraborty in Jadavpur, on the southern fringes of Kolkata, is said to be the biggest upset this election. He lost by 11,000-odd votes.

Gupta had become a giant killer for the TMC after humbling former Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee in the 2011 elections.

The other big-ticket loss has been that of law and judicial affairs minister, Chandrima Bhattacharya, in the Dum Dum Uttar constituency. She lost to Tanmay Bhattacharya of the CPI (M)-Congress alliance by over 6,500 votes.

Outgoing backward class minister Upendranath Biswas lost the Bagdah seat in North 24 Parganas to the alliance’s Dulal Chandra Bar by a margin of around 12,000 votes.

The TMC was embarrassed in Malda in North Bengal, where it not only failed to win a seat, but also saw two of its Cabinet ministers lose.

Sabitri Mitra, Cabinet minister without a portfolio, lost to the alliance’s Mohammed Motakkin Alam in Manikchak, Malda, by around 12600 votes.

Her bete noire in the party, Krishnendu Narayan Choudhury, the minister-in-charge for food processing and horticulture, lost the English Bazar seat in Malda to Nihar Ranjan Ghosh ,an Independent candidate. He was defeated by 40,000 votes.

Corruption Accused The TMC also failed to retain the Kamarhati seat in North 24 Parganas where jailed minister Madan Mitra took on Manas Mukherjee of the Left-Congress alliance. Accused in the Saradha scam, he also faced allegations of bribery in the Narada sting operations. Five of his party colleagues, who were also purportedly shown accepting bundles of cash, emerged victorious — that, too, with big margins. 

Mitra lost by a margin of 4,000 votes after trailing for a major part of the day. In yet another setback Shyamaprasad Mukherjee, the outgoing Textile minister, lost the Bishnupur seat in Bankura by 900-odd votes to Tushar Kanti Bhattacharya of the Left-Congress alliance. He had been interrogated by various investigating agencies in the Saradha scam.

Ceding space Interestingly, the TMC will not be too happy with the breach in Purba Medinipur. This year, the Left has been able to win three seats — Tamluk, Haldia and Panskura Purba — in the now green bastion.

In 2011, the CPI(M) has been washed out from the district and it had failed to win even a single seat there.

In Tamluk, Ashok Dinda defeated Nirbed Roy of the TMC by a slender margin of 500 votes. Ibrahim Ali won by over 4,000 votes in Panskura Purba, while Tapasi Mondal won by over 21,000 votes in Haldia.

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