Ms Mamata Banerjee’s “dream team” at Writers’ Buildings, the state secretariat, is likely to include former Ficci secretary-general Amit Mitra, who has been her close adviser on economic policy and handling the party’s relationship with Indian industry. He could get either the finance or industry portfolios.

It’s advantage Congress. The Assembly election results have come as a breather for the party, now riddled with scams and charges of corruption. Its electoral triumph in Assam and Kerala will give it a major political boost. The party has also heaved a sigh of relief with the DMK, its powerful southern ally, biting the dust in Tamil Nadu.

A virtual tsunami unleashed by Trinamul Congress chieftain Mamata Banerjee made history here on Friday — dethroning the longest-serving democratically-elected Communist government in the world. The star of Vladimir Lenin — to whom the state’s CPI(M)’s rulers routinely paid public tribute and whose photograph had pride of place in their offices — had well and truly dimmed after 34 long years.

A script that eventually turned out to be a blockbuster for the Trinamul Congress as noted thespian Bratya Basu and National Award-winning actor Debashree Roy turned out to be the “giant killers”.

Preparations for celebrations began at Trinamul Congress chief Mamata Banerjee’s Harish Chatterjee Street residence even before the polling had begun. Such was the confidence of the party supporters about the victory that a large number of youth, including women with green abir in one hand and party flag in the other, started pouring in immediately after the sunrise.

Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee’s son Abhijit Mukherjee has achieved a major feat by winning his maiden election. He wrested the Nalhati Assembly constituency in Birbhum district from the Left Front after 43 years by trouncing the Forward Bloc candidate Deepak Chatterjee by over 15,000 votes.

Manish Gupta, who was West Bengal home secretary in January 1993 when the police had dragged out Ms Mamata Banerjee, then a Youth Congress leader, from the Writers’ Buildings, has become the giant killer in the 2011 Assembly polls by defeating chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee at Jadavpur by 16,684 votes, that too as Ms Banerjee’s nominee.

The former top cop, 66-year-old H.D. Safwi, an avid reader, who also loves his golf, was handpicked by Mamata Banerjee for the Assembly elections to contest from Uluberia East constituency in Howrah.

The drubbing and debacles of the Marxist party in the polls seem to have completed a full circle with all the bigwigs in the previous Cabinet, including chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, Nirupam Sen, Gautam Deb, Ashok Bhattacharjee ending up as big losers in the polls. The million dollar question which has now cropped up

When Trinamul Congress chief Mamata Banerjee became sanguine of dislodging the Left Front from power and taking over the reins of West Bengal, one concern still kept gnawing her: the sagging economy of the state. To salvage the sagging financial position of the state, she zeroed in on Amit Mitra. She thought that if any one could