Bengal's silent shift: Mamata Banerjee among 22 TMC ministers defeated in BJP's win

Trinamool Congress president Mamata Banerjee was not the only one who was humbled by the voters of West Bengal on Monday when she lost Bhabanipur to BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari. As many as 22 of her 35 ministers (63% of the Cabinet) were also defeated.

The defeats signal a deep anti-incumbency wave against the ruling TMC in the eastern state, where the BJP secured a sweeping two-thirds majority in its maiden and historic win. The BJP bagged 207 seats in the 294-member Assembly as against the TMC's 80.

“This is a direct rejection of the leadership that governed the state. Voters have not just voted against candidates; they have rejected the core leadership of the All India Trinamool Congress,” BJP sources said.

Here is the profile of 22 TMC ministers who lost—all handling critical portfolios:

1. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee lost to BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari by a margin of 15,105 votes

2. Housing and Power Minister Aroop Biswas lost to BJP’s Papiya Adhikari by a margin of 6,013 votes in Tollygunje

3. Education Minister Bratya Basu lost to BJP’s Arijit Bakshi by a margin of 25,273 votes in Dum Dum

4. Environment, Finance, and Programme Monitoring Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya  lost to BJP’s Sourav Sikdar by a margin of 26,404 votes in Dum Dum Uttar

5. Industry, Commerce & Enterprises; Women & Child Development and Social Welfare Shashi Panja lost to BJP’s Purnima Chakraborty by a margin of 14,633 votes in Shyampukur

6. Fire and Emergency Services Minister Sujit Bose lost to BJP’s Sharadwat Mukherjee by a margin of 37,330 votes in Bidhannagar

7. Technical Education, Training & Skill Development; Tourism Indranil Sen lost to BJP’s Deepankan Guha by a margin of 13,441 votes in Chandannagar

8. Agriculture Marketing Minister Becharam Manna lost to BJP’s Arup Das by a margin of 21,438 votes in Singur

9. Animal Resources Development Minister Swapan Debnath lost to BJP’s Pran Tapadar by a margin of 16,662 votes in Purbasthali Dakshin

10. Backward Classes Welfare, Tribal Development Minister Bulu Chik Baraik lost to BJP’s Sukra Munda by a margin of 15,492 votes in in Mal

11. Cooperation, Panchayats and Rural Development Minister Pradip Mazumdar lost to to BJP’s Chandra Shekhar by a margin of 30,934 votes in Durgapur Purba

12. Forests, Self Help Group & Self Employment Minister Birbaha Hansda lost to BJP’s Pranat Tudu by a margin of 22,977 votes in Binpur

13. Irrigation & Waterways, Water Resources Investigation & Development Manas Ranjan Bhunia lost to BJP’s Amal Panda by a margin of 11,136 votes in Sabang

14. Labour Minister Moloy Ghatak lost to Krishnendu Mukherjee by a margin of 11,615 votes in Asansol Uttar

15. Mass Education Extension and Library Services Minister Siddiqullah Choudhury lost to BJP’s Saikat Panja by a margin of 14,798 votes in Monteswar

16. North Bengal Development Minister Udayan Guha lost to Ajay Ray by a margin of 17,447 votes in Dinhata

17. Paschimanchal Unnayan Affairs Minister Sandhya Rani Tudu lost to BJP’s Mayna Murmu by a margin of 27,283 votes in Manbazar

18. Sundarban Affairs Minister Bankim Chandra Hazra lost to BJP’s Sumanta Mandal by 7,881 votes in Sagar

19. Science & Technology and Bio-Technology Minister Ujjal Biswas lost to BJP’s Sadhan Ghosh by a margin of 27,801 votes in Krishnanagar Dakshin

20. Transport Minister Snehasis Chakraborty lost to BJP’s Prosenjit Bag by a margin of 862 votes in Jangipara

21. MoS Consumer Affairs Minister Srikant Mahato lost to BJP’s Biman Mahata by a margin of 15,243 votes in Salboni

22. MoS School Education Minister Satyajit Barman lost to BJP’s Haripada Barman by a margin of 12,361 votes in Hemtabad

Margins of defeat for some of Mamata’s key aides are huge.

Industry Commerce and Enterprises Minister Sashi Panja lost to BJP’s Purnima Chakraborty by more than 14,600 votes in the Shyampukur constituency.

North Bengal Development Minister Udayan Guha from the TMC lost the Dinhata seat to BJP's Ajay Ray by a margin of more than 17,400 votes.

TMC Minister, senior leader and state President of Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind Siddiqullah Chowdhury, also a prominent minority face of the TMC, lost the Monteswar seat to BJP’s Saikat Panja by a huge margin of more than 14,700 votes.

West Bengal’s Cooperation Minister Pradip Majumdar lost the Durgapur Purba seat to BJP’s Chandra Sekhar Banerjee by a massive margin of more than 30,900 votes.

Senior TMC leader and Environment Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya lost the Dum Dum Uttar seat to BJP’s Sourav Sikdar by a margin of more than 26,400 votes.

Former TMC minister Nirmal Majhi lost the Goghat seat to BJP’s Prasanta Digar by a huge margin of more than 49,500 votes.