The Trinamool Congress (TMC) has done the expected, having romped home in the Kolkata Municipal Corporation Election and 91 other Municipality polls in West Bengal. The polls were looked upon as a prelude to the 2016 Assembly Elections in the state. It would appear that the Saradha Chit Fund Scam had in no way dented the TMC’s popularity. The Left had not recovered any lost ground and the BJP had failed to sway a sizeable section of the State electorate. The TMC won 114 out of 144 KMC wards and 70 out of 91 Municipalities. As is to be expected, the fairness of the polls has been questioned by the opposition. The elections were held under the eyes of the State Election Commission but there had been known incidents of booth capturing and violence. Central paramilitaries which had the polls under surveillance proved ineffective. The Left and the BJP called a bandh on Thursday to protest against TMC violence at the polls. But that does not put the opposition in a favourable light.
The TMC swept the polls at the KMC for having brought about significant improvement in the city’s cleanliness and infrastructure. The Left had in the past done little for the urban centres in the state. It touted its egalitarian policy putting the stress on villages. But it was a wrong policy, for villages cannot prosper if the cities are neglected. The BJP in West Bengal is handicapped for a variety of reasons. The state is exceptionally secular. The party is weakened by internal dissensions and has a non-Bengali state president. One swallow does not make a summer but there is little optimism that the opposition can rally back in the near future.
