Congress, Left members join Trinamool

The Congress and the Left Front on Monday received a blow when several of their members switched over to West Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress, which wrested control of two zila parishads.

Making a major headway in the Congress stronghold Malda, the Trinamool took control of the 38-member Malda zila parishad with six Congress and eight Left members joining the party while two Samajwadi Party members extended support.

The Trinamool also gained control of the Jalpaiguri zila parishad as five members from the CPI-M and one from All India Forward Block (AIFB) joined the ruling party. Trinamool's tally went up from four to 10 in the 19 member district council.

Reacting to the development, state Congress President Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury accused the Trinamool of using "money and muscle power" to lure opposition members.

The Trinamool has rubbished the charge and claimed people were joining its ranks after getting inspired by the "development work carried out by Chef Minister Mamata Banerjee".

The Congress and the Left Front have of late been plagued by desertions and are losing control of several civic and local bodies to the Trinamool.

Earlier in July, CPI-M legislator Dipali Biswas from Malda's Gazole constituency, and Congress' Tushar Kanti Bhattacharya, representing Bankura's Bishnupur, switched over to the Trinamool.

--IANS

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