Crushed, conquered, dumped. But people are still watching Didi's 'Khela' that went wrong
Despite losing much of her party and the chief minister's chair, Mamata Banerjee remains West Bengal's most searched political leader.
Out of power, but not out of people’s minds — or Google searches. This is where Mamata Banerjee stands today.
With the rebel faction approaching the Election Commission to claim the Trinamool Congress name, symbol, and organisational control, Mamata Banerjee's political journey seems to have hit a wall. The breakaway group has named Arup Roy as the party's new chairperson. Didi’s political graph is trending downward everywhere. Well, almost everywhere.
An analysis of Google Trends data and the last 20 social media posts of Mamata Banerjee and Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari shows something interesting. Despite losing power and much of her party, Didi continues to attract slightly more public interest online than the new CM, who defeated her a month and a half ago.
With five years remaining before the next Assembly election, it is too early to predict the future of Banerjee's career. What the data does show, however, is that public interest in her remains intact. If her political rise was closely watched, her decline appears to be attracting equal attention.
BEATING SUVENDU SOMEWHERE
Over the past month, Mamata Banerjee has maintained a marginal lead over Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari in online interest, according to Google Trends data. Between May 26 and June 24, the data shows Banerjee registering an average interest score of 43, narrowly ahead of Adhikari's 42.
The most searched query related to Banerjee was whether she would merge her faction with the Congress. In contrast, the top search associated with the new CM, on the other hand, was "Suvendu Adhikari's number".
A similar pattern emerged on social media. An analysis of the last 20 Facebook posts by both leaders showed that Mamata Banerjee recorded a higher engagement rate of 1.20 per cent, compared to Suvendu Adhikari's 0.95 per cent, while also generating substantially higher interactions on the platform.
The trend, however, reversed on X. Despite having a significantly smaller follower base, Adhikari registered an average engagement rate of 0.69 per cent, more than three times higher than Banerjee's 0.21 per cent over their last 20 posts.
TRAITORS, GADDARS, AND MIR JAFARS
Our analysis was not limited to Mamata Banerjee and Suvendu Adhikari. We also tried to see how people were reacting to the leaders who left Mamata Banerjee's camp and joined the rebel faction. Leaders who enjoyed power and positions in Banerjee’s TMC and government. This includes ex-Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim.
In Bengal, the name Mir Jafar has historically been synonymous with treason. After all, in the 1757 Battle of Plassey, Mir Jafar betrayed Nawab Siraj-ud-Daulah and sided with the British East India Company. He became the first dependent nawab of Bengal.
Naturally, this name is trending in West Bengal right now. Google Trends data showed that "Mir Jafar" outperformed the Hindi word "gaddar" (traitor) in search interest over the past month, registering an average interest score of 31 compared to 23.
In fact, those being labelled as "Mir Jafar" appear to be attracting greater public interest online than leaders who remained loyal to Mamata Banerjee. Google Trends data for the past 30 days shows that Ritabrata Banerjee and Firhad Hakim registered average interest scores of 11 and 9, respectively. In comparison, Mamata loyalists Kunal Ghosh and Sovandeb Chattopadhyay recorded average scores of just three each.
The political fate of the rebel leaders will ultimately be determined at the next election. Right now, however, social media reactions suggest that many have responded negatively to their decision to leave Mamata Banerjee's camp. The rebel TMC leaders are facing backlash on social media. West Bengal Leader of Opposition, Ritabrata Banerjee, even disabled comments on his Facebook posts.
An analysis of comments on the most recent Facebook posts of Firhad Hakim, dated June 3, Javed Khan, dated June 12, and Sandipan Saha, dated June 22, showed predominantly negative reactions. Of the 130 comments on Hakim's post, 76 (58.5 per cent) were negative, with many users describing him as a "traitor" or "Mir Jafar".
Javed Khan received 59 comments, of which 46 (78 per cent) were negative. Sandipan Saha faced the strongest backlash, with 53 of the 56 comments on his post (94.6 per cent) carrying negative sentiments.
Out of power, but not out of people’s minds — or Google searches. This is where Mamata Banerjee stands today.
With the rebel faction approaching the Election Commission to claim the Trinamool Congress name, symbol, and organisational control, Mamata Banerjee's political journey seems to have hit a wall. The breakaway group has named Arup Roy as the party's new chairperson. Didi’s political graph is trending downward everywhere. Well, almost everywhere.
An analysis of Google Trends data and the last 20 social media posts of Mamata Banerjee and Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari shows something interesting. Despite losing power and much of her party, Didi continues to attract slightly more public interest online than the new CM, who defeated her a month and a half ago.
With five years remaining before the next Assembly election, it is too early to predict the future of Banerjee's career. What the data does show, however, is that public interest in her remains intact. If her political rise was closely watched, her decline appears to be attracting equal attention.
BEATING SUVENDU SOMEWHERE
Over the past month, Mamata Banerjee has maintained a marginal lead over Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari in online interest, according to Google Trends data. Between May 26 and June 24, the data shows Banerjee registering an average interest score of 43, narrowly ahead of Adhikari's 42.
The most searched query related to Banerjee was whether she would merge her faction with the Congress. In contrast, the top search associated with the new CM, on the other hand, was "Suvendu Adhikari's number".
A similar pattern emerged on social media. An analysis of the last 20 Facebook posts by both leaders showed that Mamata Banerjee recorded a higher engagement rate of 1.20 per cent, compared to Suvendu Adhikari's 0.95 per cent, while also generating substantially higher interactions on the platform.
The trend, however, reversed on X. Despite having a significantly smaller follower base, Adhikari registered an average engagement rate of 0.69 per cent, more than three times higher than Banerjee's 0.21 per cent over their last 20 posts.
TRAITORS, GADDARS, AND MIR JAFARS
Our analysis was not limited to Mamata Banerjee and Suvendu Adhikari. We also tried to see how people were reacting to the leaders who left Mamata Banerjee's camp and joined the rebel faction. Leaders who enjoyed power and positions in Banerjee’s TMC and government. This includes ex-Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim.
In Bengal, the name Mir Jafar has historically been synonymous with treason. After all, in the 1757 Battle of Plassey, Mir Jafar betrayed Nawab Siraj-ud-Daulah and sided with the British East India Company. He became the first dependent nawab of Bengal.
Naturally, this name is trending in West Bengal right now. Google Trends data showed that "Mir Jafar" outperformed the Hindi word "gaddar" (traitor) in search interest over the past month, registering an average interest score of 31 compared to 23.
In fact, those being labelled as "Mir Jafar" appear to be attracting greater public interest online than leaders who remained loyal to Mamata Banerjee. Google Trends data for the past 30 days shows that Ritabrata Banerjee and Firhad Hakim registered average interest scores of 11 and 9, respectively. In comparison, Mamata loyalists Kunal Ghosh and Sovandeb Chattopadhyay recorded average scores of just three each.
The political fate of the rebel leaders will ultimately be determined at the next election. Right now, however, social media reactions suggest that many have responded negatively to their decision to leave Mamata Banerjee's camp. The rebel TMC leaders are facing backlash on social media. West Bengal Leader of Opposition, Ritabrata Banerjee, even disabled comments on his Facebook posts.
An analysis of comments on the most recent Facebook posts of Firhad Hakim, dated June 3, Javed Khan, dated June 12, and Sandipan Saha, dated June 22, showed predominantly negative reactions. Of the 130 comments on Hakim's post, 76 (58.5 per cent) were negative, with many users describing him as a "traitor" or "Mir Jafar".
Javed Khan received 59 comments, of which 46 (78 per cent) were negative. Sandipan Saha faced the strongest backlash, with 53 of the 56 comments on his post (94.6 per cent) carrying negative sentiments.
