TMC SWEEPS CIVIC POLLS IN BENGAL
TMC swept municipal elections in West Bengal, capturing all 7 civic bodies, while the BJP emerged a distant second.
BJP EMERGES AS THE PRINCIPAL OPPOSITION WINNING SIX WARDS; FORWARD BLOC THE ONLY LEFT FRONT PARTNER TO SCORE
KOLKATA : In the run-up to the crucial 2018 panchayat elections, the Trinamool Congress virtually swept the seven civic bodies spread across Bengal where elections were held on August 13.
As expected, most of the 148 wards in Dhupguri, Haldia, Panskura, Durgapur, Cooper’s Camp, Nalhati and Buniyadpur municipalities were painted green. But the real surprise came from the saffron camp.
The BJP wrested six wards in three civic bodies and emerged as the principal opposition in Bengal — a trend witnessed in earlier polls — in the suburban towns and semi-rural belts. Maintaining its steady growth, the BJP kept the Left parties and Congress behind in the final tally in a large number of civic bodies.
BJP state president Dilip Ghosh claimed Thursday’s performance would help his party in the panchayat election. “We are surging ahead and it’s visi- ble. We are preparing for the big fight in 2018,” said Ghosh. BJP national secretary Rahul Sinha alleged that the polls were rigged.
“Had the elections been free and fair, we would have done much better. Our main job in the panchayat polls will be to counter state-sponsored violence,” said Sinha. With one seat, the Forward Bloc was the only Left Front partner to score.
Not just Left parties, even Trinamool leaders blamed the CPI(M)-Congress alliance for the debacle the two parties faced.
“People have not accepted the alliance with Congress. The Left parties won’t survive if they continue with this alliance,” said Forward Bloc state secretary Naren Chatterjee.
“The question of coming first, second or third doesn’t make sense because the polls were neither free nor fair,” argued CPI(M)’s Jadavpur MLA and state secretariat member Sujan Chakraborty.
Trinamool secretary general Partha Chatterjee said, “The alliance has virtually reduced the CPI(M) to a street sign and the Congress isn’t even visible. It’s time for both parties to decide whether they should continue to oppose us blindly or support our efforts in the interest of Bengal.”
He was in no mood to give credence to the performance of the BJP. “I see no point in calling the BJP the second force in Bengal. It is no power to reckon with,” quipped Chatterjee.
“The BJP has emerged because of the close understanding it has with the CPI(M),” said Suvendu Adhikari, transport minister and heavyweight Trinamool leader from East Midnapore, referring to Haldia where the ruling party won all the 29 seats.
The industrial town used to be a CPI(M) stronghold even after the Trinamool came to power. Things changed after the CPI(M) expelled its Haldia strongman Lakshman Seth. Seth joined the BJP a few months ago.
In May this year, the BJP started acting on the masterplan party president Amit Shah prepared during a three-day trip to Bengal.
Going by the strategy the BJP plans to follow, the CPI(M) should have more reasons to worry than Trinamool Congress.
For, taking on the proverbial organisational strategy of the Marxists, Shah specifically asked leaders and workers to rise and spread from the state’s 77,000 odd polling booth areas.
“The panchayat polls will be the quarter-final, the Lok Sabha polls in 2019 will be the semi-final and the Assembly polls in 2021 will be the final match,” said Ghosh said at a meeting in May.