No stopping Mamata's Duronto

Trinamool sweeps civic polls

The main political opposition Trinamool Congress, led by Union Railways Minister Mamata Banerjee, maintained its winning streak in West Bengal by sweeping the just concluded municipal polls.

The polls were conducted in 81 municipalities and corporations, including Kolkata and adjoining Salt Lake. Banerjee’s TMC managed to win 32 against the Left Front’s 19. The Congress won seven municipalities.

While the results, yet again, establish Banerjee’s TMC as the formidable challenger to the Left — ushering in a hope of change in this Left bastion — 23 municipalities gave no clear verdict.

Barring two, in most of these 23 municipalities the TMC and the Congress will need each other’s support to form the boards.

 

Unlike the Lok Sabha election, the TMC and the Congress decided to fight the civic polls independently after talks on a coalition failed following differences over seat sharing.

Five years earlier the TMC had won only seven out of these 81 municipalities. This time the outcome has proved beyond doubt that from Plassey to Purulia in the entire south Bengal the TMC has established itself as the only legitimate anti-Left force. The Congress has been reduced to a negligible factor in Bengal politics.

“The verdict is loud and clear”, said a beaming Mamata. “The CPI(M) has lost all moral authority to rule the state. The assembly election should be held immediately.”

The Left Front did not respond directly to Mamata’s remarks. But, chairman Biman Bose said, “We accept the peoples’ verdict.” Between now and next May, when the assembly elections are due in the state, the Left Front will work hard to regain the confidence of the people.

Khsiti Goswami, RSP leader and a member of the Left Front government, admitted that the results were on expected lines.

For the Congress, the result has come as a reality check. It is now clear that the anti-Left voters have rallied behind the TMC. Pranab Mukherjee, senior Congress leader and Union finance minister, owned the responsibility for the Congress’ poor show. “I take full responsibility for the party’s performance,” Mukherjee said soon after congratulating Banerjee on her victory.

As the results were being announced Banerjee arrived at the city from Delhi amid celebrations by her jubilant supporters. The most spectacular victory that the TMC got was in Kolkata and in its neighbouring Salt Lake. In Kolkata the TMC made a clean sweep and got 95 seats out of 141 and in Salt Lake it got 16 of the 25 seats.

The outcome of the municipal elections show clearly that despite a serious effort by the Left to regain lost ground, they could not halt the “winds of change” that had gripped the state.

In the last Lok Sabha election in 2009 Mamata’s TMC and the Congress combine won 26 of the 42 seats while the Left managed to retain only 15. This trend is evident in the results of today’s municipal polls.

Moreover, the the ‘disease’ has spread further in areas which even some years back were considered as Left strongholds.

For instance, in Burdwan district, a traditional Left bastion, the Left Front lost three municipalities to the Congress and TMC. In Hoogly district, the TMC, who had made inroads during the Lok Sabha elections, has trounced the CPI(M) convincingly.

Moreover, the the ‘disease’ has spread further in areas where even some years back were considered as Left strongholds.

For instance, in Burdwan district, a traditional Left bastion, the Left Front has lost three municipalities to the Congress and TMC. In Hoogly district, the TMC, who had made inroads during the Lok Sabha elections, has trounced the CPIM convincingly.

Of the 12 municipalities that went to poll in the districts, the TMC got 11. In the Lok Sabha election the TMC had made a serious dent into the traditional Left base in North 24 Parganas where they won all five seats. This time they have won 20 out of the 21 municipalities there.

The TMC has also won municipalities in Birbhum, Bankura and Purulia. Although the details of the results, including voting percentage, is yet to be known by the state election commission, indications are that the Left vote share has gone down further from 43 per cent during the 2009 Lok Sabha election.

An analysis of the election results reveals that had there been an alliance between the TMC and the Congress, the result would have been further damaging for the Left.

The Congress would have also benefitted from the alliance, which was spurned by a section of their leaders. Keshab Rao, AICC general secretary in charge of West Bengal, joined Pranab Mukherjee in congratulating Mamata for the resounding victory and hastily added that the Congress was still hopeful of an alliance with the TMC in the coming assembly elections.

However, the results of the civic polls in the state has definitely taken away whatever little bargaining power the Congress has had with the TMC in the past, and in the eventuality of an alliance it will definitely be at the mercy of the TMC leadership for a few seats during the assembly elections in 2011.