Balurghat civic polls: TMC starts preparing list of candidates

BALURGHAT: Targeting to retain power of the Balurghat civic body for the second time, Trinamool Congress (TMC) has started preparing for the upcoming civic body elections tentatively slateed to be held in December or January.

A senior party leader said that TMC has already started gearing up for the civic elections.

"We are preparing for the Balurghat civic body election. We have information that either this year-end or the beginning of next year, the elections of the 112 municipalities and corporations will be held. The whole election process will be completed by February next year. So we are preparing for that," he said.

Balurghat town Trinamool Congress president Biman Das said: "The candidate list will be prepared on the basis of their people's acceptability. We have started conducting meetings with the party workers covering all 25 wards for selecting the preliminary candidates. After the selection, their names will be sent to the state leadership for approval."

According to the Trinamool Congress, the party is expecting that the election process will start after the results of by-polls in Dinhata, Santipur, Khardah and Gosaba is announced.

A TMC party source has also informed that the local party leaders have already started a ward-wise survey to find suitable faces who can draw the voters' attention easily in the upcoming polls.

"As per instruction of the state leadership, the party has focussed on new faces to contest for the Balurghat civic body election. Those who have already achieved success in different sectors like culture, education, law and social-work will be given priority in selecting party candidates," said the source.

In the last Balurghat civic poll in 2013, of 25 wards, the TMC had bagged 14 seats and formed the board.

The Left Front had managed to get 11 seats while the Congress and the BJP drew a blank.

Since the polls could not be held last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the civic body is currently being run by the government-nominated board of administrators.

At present, Sekhar Das Gupta, a renowned local lawyer has been nominated as the chairperson of the board of administrators of Balurghat civic body.