West Bengal Assembly polls | Kolkatans borrow from Satyajit Ray to celebrate Mamata’s massive win

Mamata Banerjee was being hailed as ‘Aparajito’ (The Unvanquished) who had no ‘Pratidwandi’ (Rival) — both titles of Ray movies.

People in Kolkata were on Sunday borrowing from the words of revered filmmaker Satyajit Ray — who would have turned 100 on this day — to celebrate the stunning victory of Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress in the West Bengal Assembly elections. By the evening, many of the city’s roads saw bike processions and people gathered on the streets, greeting each other with “Joy Bangla!” While a win for the sitting Chief Minister was not entirely unexpected — most exit polls had given her a narrow edge over the BJP — not many had imagined her handing such a powerful blow to her opponents, represented by none other than Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself. By Sunday afternoon, as the outcome of the bitterly-contested elections became clearer, Ms. Banerjee was being hailed as ‘Aparajito’ (The Unvanquished) who had no ‘Pratidwandi’ (Rival) — both titles of Ray movies. Some hailed the people of West Bengal as the “Nayak” (Hero). Mr. Modi, on the other hand, was being depicted by many as ‘Ganashatru’ (Public Enemy).