Didi Express knocks down Buddha

CPM stalwart becomes only second sitting Bengal CM to lose seat.

A five-time winner from Jadavpur constituency,Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee had always been confident of his party seeing him through the bad phase. Little did he expect that his own constituency would vote against him.

For Partha Pratim Pramanik and Anirban Ray,students from reputed institutes in the city,the choice was simple. Every time we felt humiliated comparing ourselves to students elsewhere. No changes in curriculum,no prospects of jobs for students wanting to pursue non-technical courses, said Ray,a science graduate from Bijoygarh under Jadavpur constituency.

An alumni of Presidency College,Pramanik lamented the deep-rooted politicisation that had set in at the institute. If Didi as chief minister works towards creating employment opportunities,the young generation would never migrate to other states, he declared,amidst blazing shouts of Trinamool Congress Zindabad,Mamata Banerjee Zindabad.

The celebrations began fairly early at the counting centre here,after reports trickled out of Bhattacharjee trailing by nearly a thousand votes. A crowd erupted with joy,women distributing sweets and applying green gulal on each other.

Its a proud moment for me as another woman,our own Didi,has managed to topple a male-dominated party ruling the state for 34 years. Its a win for Maa-Maati-Manush, said Anita Barui,an elderly woman from Behala.

An inspector on guard duty at the gate whispered to his colleague,Now be ready to salute Madam. Its the end of Buddha Babu.

As the hours passed,it was clear that Buddhadeb would lose with a heavy margin. Bikash Bhattacharya,his election agent,cut a lonely figure outside the counting car. Resting against a car,he admitted that the party had failed to understand the peoples sentiments.

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When trends indicated Buddhadeb was now trailing by 11,213 votes,Bikash admitted defeat: Its all over,no fightback chance.

The final tally put the outgoing Chief Ministers margin of loss at 16,777 votes. Having just become only the second candidate in Bengal to defeat a sitting chief minister,the Trinamools Manish Gupta was modest. I have no inclination of any portfolio. The first priority is to improve the conditions of people of Jadavpur.

Curtains drawn on LF govts historic existence: CPM

In the afternoon,Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and CPM state secretary Biman Bose issued a statement,accepting defeat and saying the verdict was unexpected. 8220;It is now clear that curtains have been drawn on the 34-year-old historic existence of the Left Front government. We are accepting the defeat and we promise that we will act as a responsible and constructive opposition,8221; the statement said. It also exhorted the people to maintain peace and harmony. 8220;We request the workers of Left parties not to get into any trap and work as members of a joint family,8221; the statement said.

Bose admitted they had misread people8217;s mood. 8220;It is obvious people have posed their confidence in the call for change. We failed to realise this8230; we will make a review of the failure.8221;