Supporters of the Trinamil Congress celebrate
Posted on 05/13/2011 11:57:28 PM PDT by bruinbirdman
Voters in West Bengal have overthrown one of the world's last Communist governments in a humiliating state election landslide.
They were defeated after 34 years in power by the Trinamool Congress, led by the country's fiery Railways Minister Mamata Bannerjee, and her allies in the Congress Party.
Supporters of the Trinamil Congress celebrate
Miss Bannerjee's alliance capitalised on widespread disillusionment with the Communists by voters who blamed them for the state's failure to share in India's rapid economic growth. There was also anger at Communist-orchestrated attacks on poor farmers who protested against the confiscation of their land for sale to major corporate investors in the state.
The Communist-led Left Front lost 163 seats, while the Trinamool Congress and their Congress allies gained 171 sets to win a massive majority in the state assembly.
Kerala's Communist-led alliance, which has been in power since 2006, was last night also heading for defeat at the hands of the Congress Party and its allies.
Elections in five states saw India's ruling Congress Party and their allies win in West Bengal, Assam, and Kerala, but one of its most important allies, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), was heavily defeated in Tamil Nadu. The DMK has been tainted in the corruption scandal over the sale of government mobile phone licences, and its former Telecommunications Minister has been arrested. It was ousted from power in Tamil Nadu by the India All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), led by veteran film star Jayalalithaa, a former state chief minister.
The results are a significant boost for position of women in India's power structure – the state governments of West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, along with the national government, chaired by Sonia Gandhi, are all now dominated by women.
Ms Banerjee said
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
Now there is real Communist ideals in practice. Steal from the poor and give to the rich. Gee, I thought that was what they accuse capitalists of doing.
YAY INDIA! Always good to see the commies get the gate!
So is the “fiery” railways gal like the Indian Sarah Palin, or Michelle Bachman, or perhaps our own Indian-American Nikki Haley?
LOL, no wonder the left has its knickers in a twist these days.
I just want to see future history books saying: Barack Obama, the man who destroyed the American Left.
Bengal is (was) Communist? I guess few cared.
After all those years of the Cold War who knew that the secret weapon against commies was women? lol
‘Bengal is (was) Communist? I guess few cared.’
I think that it’s ‘population of 91,347,736’ (wiki) might disagree with you.
Mamata Banerjee: India's Communist 'giant killer'
yitbos
yitbos
Looks like someone’s tough momma. not a hottie for sure.
It is interesting that as a Hindu she has as master’s degree in Islamic History.
OK, not so glamorous, but she got the job done,
Oh I know its people cared. They look very happy to be rid of it.
It just didn’t seem to rate much mention among the “great” Communist societies of the world.
Since 2009, with her Trinamool Congress forming part of the national coalition government, she has served as minister of railways, but critics note its finances are in a mess.
"She's unpredictable in nature," said Purosattam Bhattacharya, who teaches international relations at Kolkata's Jadavpur University.
"We have to wait and see what she can do for the people of the state," he said.
Sounds like they traded their communists for a Democrat.
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