Kolkata: The ruling Trinamool Congress on Tuesday won four out of six municipalities, elections to which were held on June 3, while the Left Front and the Congress bagged one each.
This was the first major electoral battle after last year’s state Assembly polls and an ‘acid test’ for the year-old Mamata Banerjee government.
An 86 per cent voter turnout was recorded in last Sunday’s elections, considered as the ‘dress rehearsal’ for the Panchayat polls.
Both the Left Front and the Congress had alleged booth capturing, rigging and manhandling of their polling agents in some booths during the elections while the Trinamool Congress had claimed that the elections were free and fair.
Triangular contests were witnessed in all the six municipalities with the main aspirants being from the Congress, Trinamool Congress and the CPI(M) led Left Front.
The pre-poll alliance between the Congress and the Trinamool has failed in these municipalities.
Meanwhile, in a strong message to ally Congress after winning elections to four of six civic bodies, West Bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress Tuesday said the victory was a strong indicator of its might in the state.
“The result is a strong indicator of the might of the party and proves that the Trinamool Congress can stand firm on its own feet in West Bengal. It has now been established that the Trinamool Congress can fight and win elections on its own,” party general secretary and Railways Minister Mukul Roy told media here.
The Trinamool snatched Dhupguri municipality in Jalpaiguri district and Burdwan district’s Durgapur Municipal Corporation from the Left Front, triumphed in the Nalhati municipality in Birbhum district and retained the Panskura municipality in East Midnapore district. The elections were held on Sunday.
While the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M)-led Left Front continued to hold sway over East Midnapore district’s Haldia municipality, for the Congress the sole consolation was its success in retaining Cooper’s Camp municipality in Nadia district.
The Trinamool and the Congress, allies in the central and state governments, fought separately in the civic polls for the first time after the assembly elections last year.
“The fight in the polls was not only against the Left (Front) but also against the Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Maoists. The victory has vindicated our stand to go it alone,” Roy said.
Describing the CPI-M as an “endangered species”, Roy said the alliance was hurtling towards “extinction. We snatched three civic bodies from others. The LF barely managed to retain Haldia. Even there, we have consolidated our position since the last polls (2007). Bagging 72 of the 129 seats establishes the fact that we fight and win on our own,” added Roy. (Agencies)
