Bengal: TMC Wins Civic Bodies In Style
Linus tackles things head-on. He takes sides in his analysis and it fits excellently with our editorial policy. No 'maybe's' and 'allegedly' for him, only things in black and white.
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By Linus Garg
First publised on 2022-02-15 08:57:42
About the Author
Linus tackles things head-on. He takes sides in his analysis and it fits excellently with our editorial policy. No 'maybe's' and 'allegedly' for him, only things in black and white.
View all posts by this Author
Trinamool (TMC) has swept the civic elections in West Bengal. While this was expected given the state of the opposition in the state, dissent in the TMC over ticket distribution had led observers to believe that there would be some problems for the party in some pockets. But the results show that the TMC retained its strongholds with increased vote share and performed exceedingly well in north Bengal where the BJP was making inroads.
It won the Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation by winning 39 wards (total 41) with the Congress winning one and and an independent the other. Both the BJP and the Left drew a blank. Bidhannagar is a part of Kolkata (better known as Salt Lake City) but has a different corporation. It has witnessed rioting and malpractices in the last elections but this time, apart from small incidents, the voting was largely peaceful leading to a record turnout.
In Siliguri (north Bengal), it ousted the Left Front and thwarted BJPs attempts of taking over by winning 37 wards, more than doubling its tally with a 47.2% vote share. In Chandernagore, its dominance was total as it won 31 of the 32 wards with 59.4% vote share. The remaining seat was won by the Left Front. Similarly, in Asansol, it won 91 (74 last time) of the 106 wards after Babul Supriyo, the former Union minister and BJP leaders left the party to join the TMC.
After the victory, Mamata Banerjee said that it was her wish that the party becomes more courteous, capable and committed to work for the people after each victory. She also advised party workers to celebrate by thanking the electorate.
These elections once again confirm the fact that the BJP is fast losing ground in West Bengal, even in pockets where it was making inroads. The party has totally lost the plot and differences in the state unit have led to many leaders who left the TMC to join the party switching back. Other leaders have been expelled for anti-party activities. A weakened BJP is now in no state to take on the TMC and had yielded the second spot to the Left Front in many places.
