Trinamool congress celebrate their victory in West Bengal after winning. (File Photo)
The Trinamool Congress is in a celebratory mood after its massive victory in the West Bengal Assembly elections but not everyone in the party can be pleased. Especially the eight ministers who have lost the election and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee wants to know why.
Ms Banerjee was elected leader of the Trinamool Congress Legislature Party today, a mere formality. But a day after the party won a massive mandate she has to find replacements for eight ministers who have lost the election.
Among those who have lost is former bureaucrat Manish Gupta who defeated former Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya last time. Chandrima Bhattacharya, who held the Law and Judiciary portfolio and is junior minister in the Health department, has also lost.
Madan Mitra, who contested from jail after his arrest in connection with the Saradha scam, also lost.
West Bengal's Education Minister Bratya Basu, told NDTV, "When a candidate is fighting in an election it doesn't matter whether he is as minister or not. In that constituency he is an MLA. It's not eight ministers who have been defeated. It's eight MLAs who have been defeated."
Trinamool Congress legislator Sovandeb Chattopadhyay told NDTV, "This will be discussed at length by the party and Mamata Banerjee will ask for reports from the district presidents the reason for their defeat. In the cities and towns the publicity against us in the media was reflected slightly."
But what comes as good news for the Trinamool is that the five candidate including ministers who were stung in the Narada tapes have held on to their seats.
Firhad Hakim, one of the ministers allegedly caught on the Narada tapes, told NDTV, "The people have blessed me. They had brought false charges. I have never done any unethical thing and I will never do anything unethical. People have accepted my commitment and it was a conspiracy."
The party though will still be considering remedial measures, sources say.