People's Democracy

WEST BENGAL

Left Front Leads In Civic Polls

 B Prasant

THE West Bengal Left Front has won with an absolute majority 8 out of the 17 civic bodies that went to the polls. These bodies are the Asansol corporation, Gangarampur, Madhyamgram, Dumdum, South Dumdum, Rajarhat-Gopalpur, Maheshtala and Rajpur-Sonarpur. The Left Front has wrested Madhyamgram from the Trinamul Congress. In Uluberia and Malbazar, the Left Front has emerged as the single largest front with its seat tally being equal to the combined tally of the Congress, Trinamul Congress and BJP. 

The fate of Kulti municipality depends on what direction the three independents take. Here the LF has won 15 seats, Trinamul Congress 12 and the Congress 5. The Kurseong municipality is hung between the GNLF, CPI(M) supported independents and other independents.

The Congress has won Sainthia, Islampur and Kaliaganj while Trinamul Congress has to be satisfied with just one municipality, Egra. The GNLF has won Darjeeling and Kalimpong.

In the Siliguri Mahakuma Parishad, where counting was going on at the time of filing this report, the Left Front had won 15 Gram Panchayat seats and the Congress 6. One GP has produced a hung result. Of the 5 Panchayat Samity seats, the Left Front had won 3. In the Mahakuma Parishad, the Left Front had won 6 out of 7 and was ahead in one.

In the by-elections held in Kolkata Municipal Corporation, the CPI(M) wrested ward no. 118 from the Trinamul which, however, retained ward no. 72.

Left Front chairman Biman Basu and state CPI(M) secretary Anil Biswas have felicitated the people for further strengthening the LF in the civic and Mahakuma Parishad polls. Biswas expressed hope that the Congress would not join hands with the BJP in the formation of municipal boards. Biswas added to say that the real picture regarding the position of different parties would become known once the winning vote percentages were calculated. 

Responding to the Trinamul’s call for an ‘Indonesia-type uprising against the communists in Bengal,’ Biswas said the Trinamul should then declare that they are the followers of General Suharto whose coup d’état in Indonesia in 1965 was followed by the mass murder of communists. (INN)