Mamata Banerjee has been in power in Bengal since 2011.
Mamata Banerjee, who has been in power for 10 years, looks set to win a third term in West Bengal. Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress has crossed the half-way mark in early leads in Bengal and is leading in 207 seats. The Trinamool Congress had surged to power in 2011, toppling the 34-year Left citadel. It only improved its tally by 27 seats in 2016. For Mamata Banerjee, this was arguably the toughest poll of her political career, with the BJP -- which won just three seats the 2016 Assembly polls -- pulling out all stops in the state in a determined bid to oust Ms Banerjee, a vocal critic of Prime Minister Modi.
Mamata Banerjee started her political career with the Congress in the 1970s. She became one of India's youngest parliamentarians when she won her first Lok Sabha election in 1984 from Jadavpur parliamentary Constituency. After quitting the Congress, Mamata Banerjee -- who is popularly known as "Didi" to her supporters -- founded the All India Trinamool Congress in 1998.
She became the first woman chief minister of West Bengal in 2011. It was her campaign to protect farmers' land from a proposed economic zone project in Nandigram that powered her campaign for the 2011 assembly election, which she won by a landslide. This year, Mamata Banerjee is contesting from Nandigram again.
Here is a look at five black and white pics that provide a glimpse into the political career and the day-to-day life of the Trinamool Congress leader:
The Nation is grateful to her In 2021 ???????? @MamataOfficial didi pic.twitter.com/X9aq7Oztmy
— Rahul.N.Kanal (@Iamrahulkanal) May 2, 2021
The Nandigram battle will be a defining one for Ms Banerjee. She is up against her former trusted lieutenant Suvendu Adhikari, who switched over to the BJP. The Chief Minister's Trinamool and the BJP ran a bitter, no holds barred campaign in the state. Voting for these elections took place in March and April.
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