Mumbai:Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Sunday
hailed Mamata Banerjee as the “Tigress of Bengal”, as her
party TMC looks set to retain power in West Bengal after the
bitterly fought Assembly election against the main rival BJP.
It is “not easy to defeat Banerjee”, even though the
BJP worked hard and put in a lot of investment during the
polls in West Bengal, Raut said.
“Congratulations Tigress of Bengal,” the Rajya Sabha
member tweeted after Chief Minister Banerjee’s Trinamool
Congress (TMC) surged way ahead the BJP in the counting of
votes currently underway.
Raut also told reporters here that everyone was now
more worried about the increase in COVID-19 numbers than the
political numbers.
The TMC was ahead in 201 of the 292 seats that went to
polls in West Bengal, way over the halfway mark of 147,
leaving the BJP trailing far behind in 82 seats, as per the
latest trends.
The Shiv Sena, which shares power in Maharashtra with
the NCP and Congress, did not contest the West Bengal polls,
but extended its support to Banerjee.
As per the latest poll counting trends, the TMC was
poised to return to power in West Bengal, the BJP was
comfortably ahead in Assam as was the LDF in Kerala.
The trends also indicated that Tamil Nadu’s ruling
AIADMK could cede power to arch rival DMK. In the Union
Territory of Puducherry, the AINRC-led NDA was headed towards
power.
Raut said except for Puducherry and Tamil Nadu, there
will be no change in political scenario in the other states.
“We have to compliment Mamata didi that she accepted
the BJP’s challenge and contested only from one seat. It is
not easy to defeat Mamata, even though the BJP worked hard and
put in a lot of investment to defeat her,” he said.
“We have no doubt that her party will form the next
government in West Bengal,” the Shiv Sena’s chief spokesperson
said.
Though the TMC seemed to have successfully ridden the
BJP challenge, the trends showed Banerjee trailing behind her
one-time loyalist and now BJP candidate Suvendu Adhikari in
Nandigram.
To a query on this, Raut said the Shiv Sena was
confident that Banerjee would win.
He said everyone was now more worried about the rising
COVID-19 numbers than the political numbers.
“We are paying the price for the election campaigning.
It is time to introspect and to do that also we need oxygen,”
he said. PTI
WB polls: Sena calls Mamata ‘Tigress of Bengal’ as TMC leads added by Press Trust of India on
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