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In upset, Trinamul backed candidate wins WB RS seat

Zakia Maryam in Calcutta

In an unprecedented outcome that could easily determine the future of West Bengal politics, Jayanta Bhattacharya, backed by the Trinamul Congress, won the Rajya Sabha elections today.

Bhattacharya's victory assumes significance since the Trinamul had only three legislators in the West Bengal assembly, far short of ensuring its candidate a win in the Rajya Sabha election.

Expectedly, all four Left nominees--- the CPI-M's Dipankar Roy, Biplab Dasgupta and Nilotpal Basu and the Revolutionary Socialist Party's Manoj Bhattacharya -- sailed through without any trouble. While Bhattacharya received the support of 43 MLAs, Dipankar, Dasgupta, Basu and Manoj polled 52, 52, 53 and 52 respectively. Congress nominee Debaprasad Roy could only poll 36 votes, though the party had 79 MLAs in the state assembly.

Bhattacharya's surprise win has encouraged the Trinamul, which is preparing for the crucial municipal polls due in May. But the rumblings in the Congress have increased after its candidate lost.

Already riven by internecine battles, the party will now find it increasingly difficult to prevent an imminent split. Even West Bengal PCC vice-president Saugata Roy admitted that the result will have grave implications for the party.

"Cross-voting by our MLAs today exposed the truth that the Congress is no longer functioning as a united flock. I am convinced that the party will be finished in West Bengal," he said.

Reacting to Bhattacharya's victory, Trinamul supremo Mamata Banerjee told rediff.com that " the outcome of today's Rajya Sabha elections showed that most Congress workers in West Bengal were disenchanted with the present leadership's stand on fighting the Left in the state."

Observers feel that the cross-voting was organised by Somen Mitra, the former PCC chief. The PCC had first proposed Mitra's candidature for the RS elections, which the AICC refused to approve. Mitra loyalists, nearly 40 in numbers, had accused the Congress MP, Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi, of foul flay against their leader. They felt that DP Roy's nomination had been declared officially only after Dasmunsi's intervention.

Disenchanted over the rejection of his candidature, Mitra had reportedly thrown all his weights to ensure Roy's defeat.

Political pundits now expecting a great many 'rebel' Congress MLAs will be expelled from the party in coming days. However, it's Mamata and her Trinamul Congress that stand to gain, immaterial of what happens in the Congress.

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