Kolkata, July 2
The CPM and other Left parties suffered a major setback in the state municipal elections held on Sunday, the results of which were declared today.
Of the 13 municipalities in which elections were held, the Trinamool Congress and Congress won in eight, while CPM and other Left parties retained their respective control in the remaining five.
Of the eight municipalities, Congress and TMC won in four municipalities each. Notably, The CPM lost in the party’s stronghold at Dalkhola, Gushkara, Habra and Midnapore, where they were in power since 1977.
This time the RSP and Forward Bloc, the two major partners, fought independently in some municipalities against the CPM and won. During the 2003 elections, the Left front parties contested jointly and won in 10 of these 13 municipalities.
The BJP also won in some municipalities, particularly in North 24-parganas, Nadia and Coochbehar districts. At Mekhliganj in Coochbehar, the CPM was routed by the Forward Bloc, which fought independently and won in most of the wards by defeating the CPM candidates.
The CPM, however, retained its control in Burdwan, Nadia, Panihati in north 24-parganas and the RSP got a landslide victory at Balurghat. On the other hand, Trinamool Congress
won a major victory at Diamond Harbour, Habra and Gushkara and Midnapore and the Congress retained its control at Haldibari and Dubrajpur (Nadia).
Meanwhile, after declaration of results, there was a wave of joy in the Congress and Trinamool Congress circles, while the CPM leadership sat ‘silently’ at the Alimuddin Street party office and reviewed the results.
The left chairman Biman Bose felt the ‘differences’ among the partners had affected the results and he stressed the necessity of strengthening the Left front parties. Ashok Ghose (FB) and Monoj Bhattacharyya (RSP) said the results should be taken as ‘lessons’ by the CPM leaders and workers.
On the other hand, Trinamool Supremo Mamata Banerjee and the veteran Congress leader Somen Mitra once again exchanged views today regarding formation of their ‘front’ for the forthcoming Lok Sabha and assembly elections in the state. Mitra met Mamata two days ago at a closed-door meeting at the Nizam Palace hostel and discussed the formation of an anti-CPM front in the state, about which neither the AICC nor the WBPC president Priya Ranjan Das Munhsi had any prior knowledge.
Today, Mitra met some of the party MLAs at the Assembly lobby and discussed how to strengthen the party’s relations with the Trinamool Congress.
