WB Panchayat Polls: Didi’s TMC leads, BJP second, Congress lags even after alliance with Left

Atri Mitra, Santanu Chowdhury

TMC has won a bumper victory in West Bengal’s panchayat elections. The Trinamool Congress won every district except Darjeeling and Kalimpong. The BJP is at the second position and the CPIM-Congress alliance is at the third position. Initially it was expected that the Congress and CPI(M) alliance would do well in Murshidabad and Malda districts but the initial trends showed TMC leading in both the districts.

TMC won a bumper victory

The Indian Secular Front (ISF), which is emerging as a force to be reckoned with in Muslim areas in Bengal, performed well in its stronghold of Bhangar. The ISF’s alliance with the CPI(M) and the Anti-Land Acquisition Committee was giving a tough fight to the TMC in some blocks of Bhangar. The worst violence was witnessed in the elections here. Till 6 pm, TMC won 18,590 of the total 63,229 gram panchayat seats. The BJP is in second place with 4,479 seats. CPM is third with 1,426 seats and Congress is fourth with 1,071 seats.

Independent candidates have won around 1,062 gram panchayat seats. In terms of control of panchayats, TMC is on course to win 2,138 seats out of a total of 3,317, BJP 122, Congress 26 and Left Front 15. Other parties, including independents, were leading in 103 gram panchayats across the state.

Out of 218 seats in 10 gram panchayats of Bhangar-II block, TMC won 86 unopposed. Of the 132 seats that went to polls, the TMC won 63, while the CPI(M)-ISF-Jomi Jibika Bastutantra o Poribesh Rokkha Samiti won 68 seats (CPM 7, ISF 43 and Jomi Jibika 18).

Jomi Jibika leader Mirza Hakim said the results showed that Bhangar had rejected the TMC. They forcefully stopped us from filing nominations for 86 seats. We have filed a case in the High Court. If the verdict comes in our favor, we will win majority of the 86 seats. ISF leader Naushad Siddiqui said that the TMC knew that they would be defeated if a truly democratic election was held. So once the nomination period started, they unleashed unlimited terror. Wherever the opposition was able to retaliate, he did well.

In panchayat samitis, TMC has won 112 out of 9,740 seats and was leading in 59 till 6 pm. The BJP was ahead in 9 panchayat samitis, while the Left Front was ahead in 2. TMC was also ahead in Zilla Parishad seats, winning 18 out of a total of 928 till 6 pm. The results of the remaining seats are yet to come.

TMC ally Anit Thapa’s Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha (BGPM) took an early lead in the panchayat elections held in the hill districts of Darjeeling and Kalimpong, which fall under the Gorkha Territorial Administration (GTA). But till the last reports came in, TMC could not open its account despite BGPM winning 33 out of 70 gram panchayats.

At least 21 people were killed in violence during polling while there were several reports of booth capturing, looting of ballot boxes and destruction of ballot papers. West Bengal has 3,317 gram panchayats with 63,229 seats. There are 341 Panchayat Samitis with 9,730 seats and 20 Zilla Parishads with 928 seats.

Abhishek Banerjee thanked the public

TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee thanked the people of West Bengal for supporting the party. In a tweet, he said that even a malicious campaign with baseless propaganda to defame the state government in West Bengal could not influence the voters. On the other hand, Babul Supriyo, a minister in the state government, said that the BJP is struggling to find solid ground. The people of Bengal have once again closed the door to his divisive politics.

Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari said that TMC has looted votes. Suvendu Adhikari claimed that had the elections been held in a free and fair manner, the TMC would not have won more than 20,000 panchayat seats. Suvendu Adhikari said the result was not surprising given the violence. Our central leaders are not bothered because it was clear from the beginning that TMC would win. They spread terror on a large scale so it is not a true reflection of people’s mandate.