West Bengal Results 2021: Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool is ahead in over 200 seats (File)
As the Trinamool Congress inched towards a landslide victory in West Bengal, politicians from several parties have praised Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for steering her party to success despite an aggressive poll campaign by the BJP.
Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut, who spearheads attacks on the centre in Maharashtra, took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his "didi, o, didi" campaign remarks. He also called Ms Banerjee the "Tigress of Bengal".
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal congratulated Ms Banerjee as well as the people of Bengal for the massive win.
"Congratulations Mamata Banerjee didi for landslide victory. What a fight! Congratulations to the people of WB," he tweeted.
National Conference leader Omar Abdullah, one of the foremost critics of the BJP, congratulated the Trinamool chief for the win despite the "thoroughly partisan" Election Commission.
"Heartiest congratulations to Mamata Banerjee didi and everyone in Trinamool for the remarkable victory in West Bengal. The BJP and thoroughly partisan Election Commission threw everything including the kitchen sink at you and you prevailed. All the best for the next 5 years," he tweeted.
"Congratulations to the conscious public, combative Mamata Banerjee and the dedicated leaders and activists of the Trinamool, who defeated the BJPs's politics of hate in Bengal. This is a befitting reply to the insulting sarcasm 'Didi O Didi' from the BJP," Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav tweeted in Hindi.
The ruling Trinamool either won or is leading in over 200 seats, which is way above the majority mark. The BJP, which had stunned the Trinamool by winning 18 Lok Sabha seats in 2019, is ahead in over 80 constituencies.
Bengal witnessed the longest-ever assembly elections spread over eight phases. Ms Banerjee had alleged that the Election Commission had taken the decision at the behest of the BJP, which rules at the centre.
The Trinamool and the BJP ran a bitter, no holds barred campaign that defied Covid safety rules as well as the poll code.
Preceding the elections, Ms Banerjee's Trinamool had lost scores of senior leaders as they joined the BJP. Despite depleted strength, the Trinamool has scored its third Bengal poll win in a row.