2 Congress MLAs, several Councillors join TMC fold

In a severe jolt to Congress, the party on Wednesday lost two of its MLAs and several Councillors to TMC, which took effective control of two Congress-controlled municipalities.

Congress MLA of Islampur in North Dinajpur district Kanailal Agarwal and Kaliaganj MLA in Nadia district Hasanuzzaman Sk on Wednesday joined TMC in presence of senior TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee.

The TMC on Wednesday also served a blow to state Congress president Adhir Chowdhury in his backyard by taking over Murshidabad Municipality with eleven Congress councillors including the chairman and vice chairman  Biplab Chakraborty and Shaheda Bibi  switching over to TMC.

The TMC which had only one councillor in the 15-member Murshidabad municipality, now has 12 Councillors.

Party MP Abhishek Bandopadhyay handed party flags to the new inductees and welcomed them to the party. With this Trinamool took control over six out of seven municipalities in the district. 

The only municipality left, Kandi, is also headed the TMC way. The municipalities that have come under Trinamool include, Azimgunj-Jiagunj, Beldanga, Baharampur,  Dhuliyan, Jangipur and Murshidabad. The Zilla Parishad has also come under Trinamool.

Addressing newsmen Banerjee said there would be all round development in Murshidabad after six out of seven municipalities had come under Trinamool. It may be mentioned that Chief Minister had unveiled a Rs 814 crore package, which includes master plan for Kandi and steps to control flood in the district.

The TMC also took over Islampur municipality in Uttar Dinajpur district, with its chairman and MLA Kanailal Agarwal and several of its Councillors joining the party.

“The Congress’ decision to align with the CPI(M) during the last Assembly poll had proved to be a “political harakiri” as the rank and file of the Congress did not accept the alliance. By the end of this year there would be no sign of political presence of Congress and CPI(M) in Bengal as people have rejected this unholy alliance,” Abhishek Banerjee said.