New Delhi, May 6 -- Mamata Banerjee has lost her bastion. The Trinamool Congress (TMC), the party she built, has been decimated by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in one of the fiercest electoral battles ever in West Bengal.

The BJP is poised to form its first government in the state since Independence, having crossed the 200-seat mark in the 294-member Assembly, effectively ending Mamata Banerjee's 15-year rule.

The TMC, by contrast, has been reduced to around 80 seats, a steep fall from the 215 it secured in the 2021 elections. It's another matter that Mamata Banerjee is yet to concede defeat and has cast doubt on the results and the Election Commission of India.

The firebrand leader's defeat to the BJP virtually ended her bid for a...