Mamata bandwagon set to destroy Red Fort in Bengal

Voters respond emphatically to Mamata's call for change. Post-poll survey suggests the three-decade-old Left rule will end.

Akshaya Mishra|May 12, 2011, 11:13:24 IST

It’s paribortan time in West Bengal. And Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress is leading the charge.The vote share of the Left Front is set to dip to its lowest in the last three decades, according to a post-poll CNN-IBN-The Week survey conducted by the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS). The Marxist combine is likely to secure 40% votes in the 2011 assembly polls compared to 50% of the Trinamool. In the 2006 polls, it had polled 50% of votes and the latter 41%. Others, including the Congress, will make up the numbers with just 10% votes.[caption id="attachment_7585" align="alignleft" width="451" caption="Chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya (L) and the ruling Communist Marxist are facing big threats from Mamata Banerjee's (R) Trinamool Congress in West Bengal. PTI"]

[/caption]The writing on the wall was clear for the Left since the 2009 parliamentary elections. Now the numbers say it. It has slipped further in popularity after that debacle. As many as 48% of respondents said they did not want to give the Left another chance; only 30% had voiced a similar opinion in 2006.Call it the Singur and Nandigram effect. Rural Bengal may just have turned its back on the Left. The post-poll survey poll shows significant loss of support for the party in its stronghold. The decline in votes is as big as 12% among the rural upper classes and 13% among the rural poor. Fifty-four percent among the rural poor backed the party last time; it’s down to 41% this time.[caption id="attachment_7597" align="alignleft" width="380" caption="West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya may not be back to the Writers' Building. PTI"]

[/caption]The Left has lost support in all age groups. But the trend is most pronounced among youth up to 25 years of age. In 2006, 56% in this age bracket favoured the Left to the unpredictable Mamata. The percentage has shrunk to 36 this time. The Communists have lost support among women too. Fifty percent women backed the party in 2006; it has come down to 39. In the urban areas the support for the party has declined by a whopping 16 points, the survey shows.Mamata has grown in public estimation as a chief ministerial prospect. Forty-five per cent of the respondents favoured her for the top job in West Bengal while 30% backed the incumbent Chief Minister Buddhadeb Dasgupta.

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Mamata bandwagon set to destroy Red Fort in Bengal

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