13 LF Councillors to join TMC today as party wrests control of Azimgunj-Jiagunj municipality

In yet another blow to Adhir Chowdhury, Trinamool Congress will establish its control over Azimgunj – Jiagunj municipality with 13 Left Front Councillors joining the party on Saturday.

Suvendu Adhikari, state Transport minister, who looks after the party in Murshidabad district said the Councillors would join the party at a function at Trinamool Bhavan in presence of Partha Chatterjee.

Adhikari will not be able to attend the function because of some prior appointment.

It may be recalled that Trinamool Congress bagged 4 MLA seats in the district. The Jangipur municipality came under TMC’s control on July 23 as 12 Left Front Councillors joined the party.

Thus, the party has made a major gain in Murshidabad district considered to Chowdhury’s fiefdom in July. Now, out of seven municipalities four are under the control of Congress while the other three are under TMC.

There are 17 Councillors in the Azimgunj- Jiagunj municipality. Out of them, 13 belong to Left Front and four to Congress. Trinamool did not have a single Councillor in the present board. Shankar Mondol, chairman of the municipality said he along with his colleagues had decided to join Trinamool to carry out more development in the area.

“We all support the development projects taken up by the Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and thought that our areas would be developed if we join the party.”

Adhir Chowdhury, WBPCC president and the self styled “king of Murshidabad” alleged that Trinamool Congress had spent money and bought the councillors. “They had been given money and terrorised by TMC,” he said. However, he did not answer when asked what Congress was doing to stop defection and erosion of party base that was happening in his district.

Brushing aside Chowdhury’s allegation that the Councillors had been purchased by TMC, Adhikari said: “Chowdhury should concentrate on keeping his party intact in the district. After 2019 Lok Sabha polls he will have to take political sanyas,” he said.

Meanwhile, Congress and Left Front legislature party have issued notices to Tushar Kanti Bhattacharya of Congress and Dipali Saha of CPI(M) for joining Trinamool Congress. The leaders of Congress and CPI(M) are seeking legal advice to find out whether court cases could be initiated against them.

Political analysts said neither CPI(M) nor Congress had leadership that could stop erosion of party base and defection of  their workers in various areas. They said in future the remaining municipalities in Murshidabad might join TMC.

They maintained that it would be difficult for both the parties to field candidates in 2018 panchayat election as there would not be any Opposition.