Lessons learnt The results of the West Bengal assembly elections deserve a close analysis Swapan Dasgupta | | Published 13.05.21, 12:08 AM
The outcome of the West Bengal assembly election led to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee beating off a sustained challenge from the Bharatiya Janata Party and securing a third term. The verdict in favour of the All India Trinamul Congress was conclusive, both in terms of seats and popular votes. At the same time, the scale of Mamata Banerjee’s victory took many by surprise. Although the dip in the turnout in the final three phases of the polls was widely expected to benefit the AITC, anecdotal wisdom believed the contest would be extremely close, with the winner securing between 150 and 160 seats in the 294-member assembly.