Pranab Mukherjee gets Finance, Mamata Railways 
  Delhi, May 23, 2009 (PTI) S M Krishna was today made the new External Affairs Minister and Mamata Banerjee given Railways in partial allocation of portfolios by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who has retained veterans Pranab Mukherjee and P Chidambaram in Finance and Home Ministries respectively. A K Antony stays in Defence and Sharad Pawar Agriculture Food, Civil Supplies, Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution, portfolios they had handled in the previous UPA government  Singh, who had taken 19 ministers in his new Cabinet, had told reporters at the Rashtrapati Bhawan yesterday that portfolio distribution would take two-three days. However, surprisingly the limited allocation of portfolios was announced by the Rashtrapati Bhawan today on the advice of the Prime Minister, who preferred to get down to business and distributed ministries on which there are apparently no no differences. Portfolios for Ministers including Kamal Nath, Kapil Sibal, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Jaipal Reddy, Anand Sharma and new entrants like Veerappa Moily and C P Joshi are yet to be announced. PTI.

  Mamta's TMC takes over CPM in West Bengal
  KOLKATA, May 17, 2009: Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress have recorded the highest net profit growth across India. From just 1 MP in 2004 to 19 MPs in 2009, TMC Ltd has actually registered a gain of 1,800% ! With its ally, the SUCI, TMC’s total strength now is 20. All things come to an end and the CPM’s hitherto unchallenged power seems to be also drawing to a close. West Bengal’s Lok Sabha results are critically indicative of things to come in the Assembly polls in  2011, which may also happen earlier, if Mamata Banerjee has her way. Whether the change will be for the better or worse in the context of  the state’s growth, is anybody’s guess at this moment, but right now, legions of Trinamool and Congress supporters are just euphoric.  

  The results have pulverised and benumbed the ruling CPM, which for the first time in 32 years has been reduced to a minority. Arithmetically, the TMC-Congress combine now has 25 seats against Left Front’s 15 (down from 35 seats in 2004), of which CPM has a mind-boggling 9 seats only! The rest 6 seats have gone to Front partners CPI, RSP and Forward Bloc all of whom won two seats each. What is even more ominous for the Left Front is that even in constituencies where it has won, almost every single candidate has seen a drastic erosion of the winning margin — a feature that can only get worse from now on. Both at the national level and at the state therefore, the CPM is now in very real danger of being 
rendered irrelevant. 
  It is also the first time in three decades that the CPM has begun to realise that the electorate has actually passed a no-confidence vote against them. It is a historic debacle for the party which had once prided itself on its contact among the masses. CPM politburo member and state party secretary Biman Bose, described the results as “unexpected” and said his party will do a soul-searching and will  try to repair the organisational network. Mamata Banerjee hinted an early assembly poll to bring an end to the “CPM’s mis-rule in West Bengal.” In a brief reaction to poll results, Mamata said that the people of West Bengal voted for a change and the verdict was clearly against the CPM. “I salute the people for their bold decision and their courage about coming forward and voting for change, despite CPM’s attempt to terrorise them” she said. 
  Trinamool’s pre-poll seat adjustment partner Congress, has fairly remained where it was in 2004. It has won 6 seats this time, of which one is a gift by way of delimitation. The erstwhile Malda Lok Sabha constituency has this time been split into two, Malda North and Malda South. Looking at the Congress position very critically, the party has actually lost one seat from 2004, with Darjeeling being bagged by BJP’s Jaswant Singh, who was backed by the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM). With the SUCI winning the Joynagar seat, the  combined Opposition has grabbed 27 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state. 
Source: The Economic Times   

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