CPI(M) fields former fin min, hopes to win BMC polls

Buoyed by the win in Siliguri Municipal elections and the successes of two recent campaigns, the West Bengal CPI(M) is now hoping to win the newly formed Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation with former finance minister Asim Dasgupta as its mayor candidate.
The CPI(M) yesterday declared the name of Asim Dasgupta as its mayoral candidate for the Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections scheduled for October 3.
"We will fight the elections under the leadership of Asim Dasgupta. We are confident of winning the polls under his leadership," Goutam Deb, CPI(M) central committee member and the party's North 24-Parganas district secretary, said while announcing the names of the candidates for the BMC polls.

The party's strategy to field Dasgupta, who had led the state finance department for more than two decades, comes in the backdrop of CPI(M) winning the Siliguri Municipal Corporation polls under the leadership of Asok Bhattacharya, a former minister in Left regime.
"In Siliguri, we have been able to unite all secular and democratic forces under Asok's leadership and it had produced good results. Plus, after two successful political campaigns, the situation is positive for us now," said a CPI(M) state committee member.
Party sources said Dasgupta, who unsuccessfully contested last year's Lok Sabha polls, had initially not agreed to contest the civic polls.

But, it was the party's leadership, specially former chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, who convinced him to contest the BMC elections.

Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation has been formed by merging Bidhannagar and Rajarhat-Gopalpur municipalities.
TMC North 24 Parganas district secretary Jyotipriyo Mullick has said the CPI(M) would lose the BMC polls hands down as people were with the development model of Mamata Banerjee.
The TMC, which has also declared its candidates, has not announced any Mayor candidate.