By Anirudh Singla
Winning with a landslide margin in the Municipal Polls in West Bengal, the Trinamool Congress emerged gloriously on Thursday. In its successive victory run post its second time to power in the state, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) bagged four out of the seven civic bodies: Mirik in Darjeeling, Pujali in South 24 Parganas, Domkal in Murshidabad and Raiganj in North Dinajpur. Having won 140 out of the 148 wards, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) emerged as the only opposition, winning six wards. This effectively relegated the Left to the third position.
A paradigm shift in state politics
Political Parties like the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) and the Congress, who cried of booth-rigging due to incidents of violence during polls on May 14, received a decisive mandate of negation following the announcement of the election results. The mandate, along with the TMCs show of power over the emerging BJP as an opposition, was an indication of the strong paradigm shift currently happening in state politics. Continued poor show of Congress with zero seats in their tally was observed along with the Lefts failure to collaborate with the Forward blocs to bring about any fruition of their efforts.
A new era in the hills
Even after having successfully held onto Haldia in the 2012 civic polls following Mamata Banerjees ascension to power in 2011, the Left could not sustain its vote bank. As a result, the Trinamool Congress won all 29 wards in Haldia and bagged all 43 wards of Durgapur. These stark results in favour of the TMC indicate a continuing haemorrhage and battering of the opposition among the Left and the Congress ranks. The BJP was a moderately significant gainer among the opposition ranks.
Elated with such a decisive mandate in its favour, TMC Supremo Mamata Banerjee tweeted, Congratulations to Ma Mati Manush for again & again putting their trust in us. We are honoured, privileged & humbled #VerdictOfBengal. Mamata Banerjee also tweeted congratulations and thanked people from the hill areas of Darjeeling Kurseong, Kalimpong, and Mirik for participating in the democratic process and promised them a new era in the hills.
Did violence prevail?
An independent Election analyst and Professor of Social Sciences at Rabindra Bharati University, Biswanath Chakraborty, was quoted saying that the elections were above question and There was no reason for the ruling TMC to rig the elections. The State Congress and the State BJP had strong views to discredit the TMC victory, as they put violence instigation by the ruling party as the primary reason for their loss.
Congress President of West Bengal, Adhir Chowdhury said, We had withdrawn our candidates protesting the state-sponsored terror which did not allow the common people to cast their votes on the poll day. There is a clear difference in the poll results of the plains and the Hills. In the Hills, the election was peaceful because the Central paramilitary forces were deployed. But violence prevailed in the plains since state police personnel were deployed. While the State BJP President mentioned that despite their demands to suspend elections, the BJP was able to put forward a strong fight and succeeded in saving some wards. Taking a dig at the Left and the Congress, he was quoted saying, BJP fought till the end. We did not flee midway.
Faith in the TMC government
TMCs Secretary-General Partha Chatterjee had a straight answer to all these allegations as he said, The results are a reflection of people’s faith in the TMC government and a befitting reply to the canards spread against us. With BJPs growing bubble over the entire country, the political landscape would be tough to change in the State of West Bengal. The Civic polls were a testimony to her power and these polls were a direct indication of Mamata Banerjees answer to the Centrethat she is still in control. Let us see how the BJP uses its entry into mainstream state politics in Bengal to its own advantage.
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