TMC wins 4 civic bodies, GJM captures 3 in Hills

Kolkata: Continuing its victory run after its coming to power for the second time in the state, the Trinamul Congress has swept the municipal polls and bagged four out of seven civic bodies. The four municipalities won by the Trinamul are Domkal in Murshidabad and Pujali in South 24 Parganas and Raiganj in North Dinajpur and Mirik in Darjeeling in North Bengal.

The Congress and CPI(M), which cried of largescale electoral malpractice including booth-jamming and rigging along with violence during the polls on May 14, were found to be decimated after the elections results were declared on Wednesday.

The BJP’s lotus, however, bloomed in few wards of some municipalities.

Elated over the victory, chief minister Mamata Banerjee tweeted, “Congratulations to Ma Mati Manush for again & again putting their trust in us. We are honoured, privileged & humbled #VerdictOfBengal.”

But the victory in Mirik appeared historic for her as this is the first time any political party from the plains made its footprint in the Hills where Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) although won three civic bodies: Darjeeling, Kurseong and Kalimpong.

In Mirik the Trinamul won six out of nine seats while three others were won by the GJM.

The Trinamul supremo tweeted, “Congratulations to my brothers/sisters in hill areas of Darjeeling Kurseong, Kalimpong, Mirik for participating in the democratic process. Special thanks to Mirik for reposing faith in us. We will work sincerely for you. After so many decades we begin a new era in the hills. The hills are smiling.”

State Congress president Adhir Chowdhury however reasoned, “We had withdrawn our candidates protesting the state-sponsored terror which did not allow the common people to cast their voctes on the poll day. There is a clear difference in the poll results of the plains and the Hills. In the Hills the election was peaceful because the Central paramilitary forces were deployed. But violence prevailed in the plains since state police personnel were deployed.”

State BJP president Dilip Ghosh said, “In the plains the election was held at gun-point and bomb explosion and the votes were looted. That is why we demanded suspension of the polls. Still we succeeded in saving some wards. BJP fought till the end. We did not flee midway.”

He added, “We came second in Pujali while in Raiganj we opened our book. Mirik municipality was set up so that the Trinamul wanted make inroads in the hills. Ultimately they did it there. In Domkal the Trinamul won by using muscle.”

Led by Mr Ghosh a BJP delegation later met governor Keshari at Raj Bhavan in the evening. The CPI(M) is yet to react on the poll results. Among the four won by Trinamul, Domkal, falling in Mr Chowdhury’s stronghold, went to the civic polls for the first time. The Trinamul won 18 out of 21 seats.

The Congress bagged 2 with the CPI(M) winning one. Soon after the results were out two elected candidates from the Opposition however defected to the Trinamul making its tally to 20. They are Ashadul Sheikh — who won as a Congress candidate from ward no 9 — and Rafikul Islam, who was elected as a CPI(M) candidate from ward no. 20.