BJP Past Halfway Mark, Mamata Banerjee Waits For "Sunset"

In early 1990s, she was called "Agni Kanya" -- the fiery daughter of Bengal. The name was bestowed by former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee acknowledging her fiery spirit. That spirit did not desert her today as the BJP looked set to wrest Bengal -- the state she has nurtured for three decades and led for 15 years. 

"Wait for sunset. We will win. We will fight like tiger cubs," was her message to Trinamool Congress cadres as the Election Commission announced that the BJP has crossed the halfway mark in Bengal.

Pointing out that only four of the 14 rounds of counting have been done, she told the cadres that it was all part of a "BJP plan".

"They have stopped counting in some areas, like in Kalyani... They are creating a ruckus, they are beating up workers, vandalising our offices," Banerjee said in a video message. 

Around 2 pm, approximately 39 per cent of the votes were counted, said sources in the Election Commission. 

Though Banerjee - once the country's youngest MP and minister in the PV Narasimha Rao government -- had once been a minister in Vajpayee's cabinet, post-2014, she has been staunchly against the BJP and one of the most vocal critics of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Since delimitation was announced and the Election Commission was charged with conducting the special revision of voter lists, she  included the poll body in her line of fire, accusing its officials of carrying brief for the BJP. 

At 71, Banerjee was already facing an uphill task: Three terms' worth of anti-incumbency, allegations that she was presiding over the most corrupt regime where crores in cash were stashed in her ministers' house and the lowest clerk to the highest official were part of the cut money loop. 

To worsen matters, her visits abroad to woo industry to come to Bengal did not work as well as expected; the law and order in the state went downhill and repeated cases of atrocities on women hit the headlines. 

Amid all this, thousands of teachers were deprived of jobs as largescale corruption in teachers' recruitment came to light.

The BJP's rise in the state, meanwhile, came hand in hand with polarisation and Banerjee was given the tag of appeasement. Her move to prioritise Muharram during Durga Puja irked the state's Hindus and her controversial comments regarding the RG Kar rape-murder case antagonised women, her staunchest support base.

As the election got closer, came the Voter List Revision. Around 91 lakh voters were taken off the list, wrecking all the pre-existing templates of election and throwing the party's ground-level workers in deep disarray. 

Banerjee is keeping her chin up. In case of a setback, there would be the daunting prospect of picking up the pieces and rebuilding the party. For now, she waits for sunset.