Kolkata: Continuing its victory run after coming to power for the second time in the state the Trinamul has swept the municipal polls and bagged four out of seven civic bodies.
The four municipalities won by the Trinamul are Domkal, Raigunj and Pujali in the plains and Mirik in the hill area.
The Congress and CPM parties which cried of large-scale electoral malpractice including booth jamming and rigging along with violence during the polls on May 14 were found to be decimated after the elections results were declared on Wednesday. The BJP’s lotus however managed to win just three seats.
Elated over the victory Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee tweeted, “Congratulations to Ma Mati Manush for again & again putting their trust in us. We are honoured, privileged & humbled #VerdictOfBengal.”
The victory in Mirik appeared historic for her as this is the first time any political party from the plains made its footprint in the hills. However, Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) won three civic bodies: Darjeeling, Kurseong and Kalimpong.
In Mirik, the Trinamul won six out of nine seats while three others were won by the GJM.
The Trinamul supremo tweeted, “Congratulations to my brothers/sisters in the hill areas of Darjeeling, Kurseong, Kalimpong, and Mirik for participating in the democratic process. Special thanks to Mirik for reposing faith in us. We will work sincerely for you. After so many decades we begin a new era in the hills The hills are smiling.”
Responding to the result of the election, state Congress president Adhir Chowdhury said, “We had withdrawn our candidates protesting the state sponsored terror which did not allow people to cast their votes on the poll day.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 there.”
Meanwhile, state BJP president Dilip Ghosh told reporters here, “In the plains the election was held at gun-point, a bomb was exploded and there was also news about votes being looted. That is why we demanded suspension of the elections. Still we succeeded in saving some wards. BJP fought till the end. We did not flee midway.”
He added, “We came second in Pujali while in Raiganj we opened our book. Mirik municipality was set up so that the Trinamul wanted make inroads in the hills. Ultimately they did it there. In Domkal the Trinamul won by using muscle.”
