Kolkata: After 10 months of winning a landslide victory in the West Bengal Assembly elections, the ruling Trinamool Congress on Wednesday won 93 of the state’s 107 municipalities, clearing the entire opposition even in the civic bodies. An official of the State Election Commission (SEC) gave this information. The Trinamool Congress has won in Kanthi municipality, considered the “stronghold” of Leader of Opposition in the Assembly and Nandigram MLA Shubhendu Adhikari, while Hamro Party, a newcomer to the hill politics of North Bengal, defeated the Trinamool Congress, Gorkha Janmukti Morcha and the BJP. After overtaking Darjeeling municipality.
The CPI(M)-led Left Front has won in Taherpur municipality in Nadia district. BJP and Congress have not won any civic body so far, but these parties are leading in some wards of some cities. “Trinamool has already registered victory in 93 municipalities while it is leading in seven other municipalities,” said a state election commission official. Left Front and Hamro Party have registered victory in one body each. ,
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Trinamool Congress has reduced the opposition to zero by registering victory on all the wards in 27 municipalities. There are at least four municipalities where no party has got a clear majority. These include Beldanga of Murshidabad, Jhalda of Purulia district, Champadani in Hooghly district and Igra municipality of East Midnapore and the role of independents who won from here has become important.
Shubhendu Adhikari and his family have suffered a major setback in this election as the Trinamool Congress has won the Kanthi municipality, which was considered a ‘stronghold’ of the Adhikari family for the past four decades. Shishir Adhikari, the father of Leader of Opposition Adhikari, was the President of Kanthi Municipality from 1971 to 2009 (except once in 1981-86). This period is about 25 years.
After becoming an MP, he handed over this responsibility to his son Dibyendu Adhikari. When Dibyendu Adhikari became an MP after winning the 2016 Lok Sabha by-election, he entrusted this responsibility to his younger brother Soumendu. The Hamro Party, founded by former GNLF leader and Darjeeling-based restaurant baron Ajay Edwards, defeated the traditionally in power GJM, BJP and Trinamool Congress to capture the city’s municipality.
According to the official, elections were to be held in 108 civic bodies but the Trinamool Congress was elected unopposed a few days ago in Dinhata municipality of Cooch Behar district. Violence, rigging and clashes with the police were reported from different parts of the state in the municipal elections, held almost a year after the assembly elections. The BJP had called a 12-hour bandh on Monday against the violence, terming the election process a “joke of democracy”.
The Trinamool Congress, on the other hand, dismissed the allegations as baseless. Trinamool said that the opposition parties are looking for excuses after realizing the defeat. (agency)