Preparations for celebrations began at Trinamul Congress chief Mamata Banerjee’s Harish Chatterjee Street residence even before the polling had begun. Such was the confidence of the party supporters about the victory that a large number of youth, including women with green abir in one hand and party flag in the other, started pouring in immediately after the sunrise.
By 9.30 am when the leads being beamed by the television channels made it clear that the Trinamul Congress was heading towards victory, jubilation began. By 10.30 am, the bamboo barricades erected only 12 hours ago gave way to the force of onrushing multitudes.
At 11.55 am, Ms Banerjee came out for the first time from her house and walked down to her office a few metres away. She thanked the people of the state for reposing their faith in her. She dedicated her party’s victory to Ma, Maati, Manush. She announced that she had received congratulatory message from Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh. Dr Singh who was in Afghanistan called her up to convey his message. “Congress president Sonia Gandhi also called up a little earlier and offered her congratulations,” Ms Banerjee added. Her announcement was greeted with thunderous applause and deafening applause.
An evidently overwhelmed Ms Banerjee said that the exit of Left Front after 34 years in power was like the second freedom. She described the results as “unprecedented and historic verdict”.
Thousands of people, many with huge bouquets, arrived to have a darshan of the woman who has single-handedly demolished the Red Fort. A group of women breaks into an impromptu jig.
Some of the slogans they raised were “Aye Buddha dekhe ja Mamatar khamta (Come Buddha and see Mamata’s power)” and “Thanda thanda cool cool, ghare ghare Trinamul (Trinamul is everywhere).”
By 1 pm, there was a sea of humanity outside her house. Ms Banerjee made an appeal to the people to leave to allow others who were unable to get in. At 1.10 pm, she appeared again and appealed for calm and peace. “Maatha thanda rakhben. Shanti bojaye rakhun (Keep cool and maintain peace),” she repeated again and again.
She announced that she had received a call from Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. She then got busy talking to electronic media persons. Television crews from all leading English and Hindi national channels were present in full force. Foreign mediapersons were also present to record what a Voice of America reporter termed as “history in the making”.
At around 6 pm she left for Raj Bhavan.