10 things that went Mamata's way in West Bengal assembly polls 2016

Mamata Banerjee’s stunning victory in the West Bengal election was the result of a whole cocktail of factors – some related to her distinctive style and some related to her governance in her first term. We look at ten factors that won the vote for Didi.

1. Five years ain’t enough: In 2011, Bengal voted for Mamata after 34 years of keeping faith in the Left Front. This time around, voters felt that five years was too short a tenure for a chief minister to change all that she wanted to change, and so gave her more time.
2. It’s the economy, stupid: During Didi’s first term, Kolkata became a hub for jobs with 152 new clusters set up in the MSME, handloom and khadi sectors. They generated jobs for four lakh people in the last four years. Bank lending in West Bengal grew at the highest rate, by 105 per cent to the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector in fact. Further, Bengal's growth rate in the service sector over the last five years was higher than the national average.
3. She kept industrialists happy: Support from industry was a crucial factor in Mamata’s victory. Throwing off her post-Singur image of a leader hostile to land acquisition for big companies, she created a land bank to meet investors’ needs. Her administrative skill in balancing industrial demands with people’s interests came in handy.
4. Bengal is no more a power-deficit state: It is in fact surplus in power. There has been huge capacity building in the last four years. In Jan 2014, the West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (WBSEDCL) crossed the milestone of having 1.35 crore subscribers. Bengal also achieved the third position in the Best State Power Utility Award for providing 24X7 power supply.
5. She spent well and spent fast: Didi made full use of her budget for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Generations Scheme (MGNREGS) , creating 95.73 crore person-days of work during 2011-16 and spending more than Rs. 5600 crore.
    
6. There’s peace in Jangalmahal: The naxalite-affected region of Jangalmahal has seen a surge of development activity in the last five years. The restoration of peace in Jangalmahal and the hills of north Bengal is likely to have weighed heavily with the voters.
    
7. Welfare schemes for girls:  Among her welfare schemes, the Kanyashree Prakalpo programme served Didi well. The scheme gives benefits such as an annual stipend of Rs 500 to girls in the 13-18 age group and a one-time grant of Rs 25000 to unmarried girls aged 18 and 19.
    
8. Her admin went north: Didi gave a boost to development in north Bengal by setting up a branch Secretariat at Uttar Kanya in Siliguri. This caters to the needs of 22 per cent of the population residing in the seven north Bengal districts.
    
9. The transport revolution: Mamata’s first term witnessed a revolution in the transport sector. Around 1500 buses – including some wi-fi enabled AC buses -- and 15000 taxis were introduced in the state in the past five years. Several new bus routes criss-cross the state now. 
    
10. She got her priorities right: “Agriculture is our pride and industry is our future,” Didi said back in January last year. Where West Bengal once imported fish from outside including Bangladesh and its farmers faced market difficulties, Mamata’s aggressive construction of cold storage facilities across the state has been welocomed by voters.