File photo of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee
Mamata Banerjee, Chief Minister of Bengal, said her party winning two important elections in the state today is "a miracle" which proves that her party, the Trinamool Congress, has not been impacted by either the Saradha scam - a multi-crore Ponzi scheme that bankrupted thousands of small investors - or reports of raging internal dissent within the party.
"This is a miracle result. People's magic... They have bowled all the controversies out," Ms Banerjee tweeted with a quick nod to the World Cup frenzy.
Several top leaders of Ms Banerjee's party have been arrested for alleged links to the Saradha scam and are now in jail. The Chief Minister has described the action against her aides as political vendetta by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government.
In by-elections, the Trinamool has won the Lok Sabha constituency of Bongaon in the Eastern part of the state, as well as the Krishanganj assembly seat.
The Bongaon seat in the Lok Sabha and the assembly constituency of Krishanganj had to pick new representatives of Trinamool law-makers died in October last year. The party has increased its margin of victory in both the seats - good news for the Trinamool ahead of the crucial Kolkata Municipal Corporation elections this year and the state election next year.
Yesterday, in a major revamp to the organisational chart of her party, Ms Banerjee curtailed the powers of Mukul Roy, who was interrogated about the Saradha scam a few days ago. Mr Roy denied reports that he is planning to launch his own party in Bengal.
Dinesh Trivedi, a senior Trinamool leader whose recent lavish praise for Prime Minister Narendra Modi had led to talk of his defecting to the BJP, was promoted to party Vice-President.
Amit Shah, the BJP chief, has at several rallies in Bengal, pledged to replace Ms Banerjee's government when the state votes next year, drawing sharp retorts from the Chief Minister and her aides.