Fearing loss on other seats, TMC desperate to sweep Burdwan

NUMBER GAME Though Trinamool won almost half the seats in last state polls, the Cong-Left vote share went up in 2014 general elections

KOLKATA: The Trinamool Congress is aiming to sweep the Burdwan agriculture belt to make up for possible losses in Nadia, Murshidabad and Kolkata North that go to the polls on Thursday, sources in the party told HT.

The third of six-phase elections is the biggest with 62 constituencies going to the polls.

In 2011, the Trinamool won 30 of these 62 seats with the Left and Congress getting 16 seats each.

This time, an informal Left-Congress alliance is confident of eating into the ruling party’s tally. In 2011, the Trinamool was in alliance with the Congress.

“A disastrous result is waiting for Trinamool in this phase. Their 2011 tally will go down,” state Congress president Adhir Chowdhury said.

In Murshidabad district, Sagardighi appears to be the only seat that Trinamool can hope to win. This was the only assembly segment in the district where Trinamool got more votes than both CPI(M) and Congress in 2014 Lok Sabha elections. With CPI(M) and Congress fighting each other, incumbent MLA Subrata Saha may have the last smile.

Going by the results of 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Bengal’s ruling party does not stand any chance in the 21 other seats in Murshidabad, despite Left and Congress fighting each other in nine of those.

In Nadia, the Left-Congress alliance hopes to reduce the Trinamool’s 2011 tally of 13 out of 17 seats in the region.

Results of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections show the combined votes of Congress and the Left was more than that of the ruling party at Karimpur, Palashipara, Chapra and Kaligunj in Nadia. Their share of votes was almost equal at Haringhata and Krishnanagar South. Tough contests are expected at Nakashipara and Tehatta.

The Trinamool’s concerns over retaining its 2011 tally in Nadia became evident when a senior leader from the district told HT “We are comfortably ahead of the opposition in 9 out of the 17.”

In Kolkata North where Trinamool has all seven seats, the Opposition is hopeful of wresting at least two.

The ruling party hopes to bag at least 13 of the 16 seats in the agriculture belt of Burdwan.