Amid the TMC’s thumping victory and the defeat of the Congress-Left Front alliance, the Congress has unexpectedly emerged as the second largest political party in West Bengal. In comparison to the 2014 figures, it has not only bettered its vote share by 2 per cent, securing 12.5 per cent of the vote share, on its own but it has also won 44 seats as against the 29 seats in which the party had a lead in the 2014 Assembly elections. The Left parties won 33. Most Congress leaders in the Centre and state rued the fact that the alliance did not work the way they had wanted, but were upbeat about the performance of the party. AICC general secretary Shakeel Ahmad said, “The Congress has done quite well, indicating that the decision to go for an understanding with the Left was correct.” Elections 2016: Big Winners & Losers Another AICC general secretary and in-charge of Bengal CP Joshi said, “We have lost the battle but will win the war in 2009.” [related-post] State Congress president Adhir Chowdhury said, “We contested 92 seats and won 44. Our strike rate was good. Time was short and we could not earn the credibility. The CPM’s organisational structure at the ground level was in bad shape. If they had pooled in resources proportionate to what we did, we would have reached the magic figure.” Senior Congress leader Manas Bhunia, who won from Sabang in West Midnapore, said it was time for introspection. “Both partners of the alliance should introspect on what went wrong. We congratulate the TMC and also urge the party chief to ensure that there is no post-poll violence,” he said.
