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”.
In one of the most high-profile constituency in the state: Dum Dum, Mr Basu routed incumbent state housing minister Gautam Deb by a margin of 31,497 votes.
Interestingly, the state housing minister had often targeted Mr Basu during his campaign trails and had even brought former Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee to address one of his rallies.
However, a professor of Bengali Literature and a theatre personality, Mr Basu, after winning, said: “It is the end of the misrule of the state minister who never bothered to look into the basic amenities of the people. The defeat was due. I would be creating a proper communication between the MP and the local councillors in order to develop the region. This was missing during the Left regime,” a jubilant yet composed Mr Basu said.
Ms Roy, who was pitched against sports minister Kanti Ganguly from Raidighi in South 24 Parganas, was another giant killer from the Trinamul Congress.
Ms Roy’s silver screen aura and popularity worked as she routed Mr Ganguly by a margin of 5,553 votes.
Actor Chiranjeet Chakraborty defeated his nearest Left Front candidate Sanjib Chatterjee by a margin of 40, 211 votes. “I accept the people’s mandate and promise to extend myself to the well being of the people and perform the duty that will be entrusted on me by our party chief Ms Banerjee,” Chiranjeet said.
Similarly, another star celebrity of the Trinamul Congress’ bandwagon, singer Anup Ghoshal, who is famous for his song Tujhse Naraz Nehi Zindagi, defeated his opponent in Uttarpara Left Front candidate Sruthinath Praharaj by 22,344 votes.