TMC bags two North Bengal panchayats as CPI(M), Cong members join party

Trinamool Congress bagged two panchayats in North Bengal including one in Murshidabad after a set of CPI(M) and Congress members joined the party.

Trinamool Congress bagged Cooch Behar II panchayat samity. In the panchayat election, Left Front had got 23 out of 39 seats while Trinamool Congress had bagged only 12 and Congress just 4.

Now, with 10 Left Front and 2 Congress members joining Trinamool Congress, the party has 24 members.

All the 24 members have cast their votes on Wednesday against the present sabhapati, Astami Roy and voted her out. Soon the new sabhapati will be elected. It may be mentioned that a few days ago left Front had also lost Mekhliganj panchayat samity and most of its members had joined Trinamool Congress.

It may be mentioned that Left Front had won in only one out of nine seats in Cooch Behar and the Assembly constituency where they had a win is comprised of different gram panchayats under Cooch Behar II panchayat samity that has been bagged by Trinamool Congress on Wednesday.

The area was considered to a stronghold of the Left Front. But with so many members joining the ruling party, the Left Front has lost its strength in the area. Parimal Burman, block president of Trinamool Congress, said that left Front had failed to carry out any development work in the area in the past few years and it was the outcome of the same.

The Left Front faced the same fate on Wednesday in Murshidabad as well. Trinamool Congress has bagged Begunbari Gram Panchayat (GP) at Benldanga in Murshidabad after 17 CPI(M) leaders joined Trinamool Congress on Wednesday. Out of 22 seats of the GP, 17 CPI(M) members including the panchayat pradhan joined Trinamool Congress on Wednesday.

They went to the house of Trinamool Congress district president Mannan Hossain and joined the party. Krishi Karmadhayak of Jalangi panchayat samity too joined Trinamool Congress.  Apart from these leaders, around 200 workers of both CPI(M) and Congress in Murshidabad joined the party on Wednesday afternoon. 

It may be mentioned that the panchayat election is in 2018. The pace in which Left Front leaders are leaving the party and the Central Committee’s stand on the Congress-CPI(M) alliance in the state both have come up as an important factor to decide the party’s fate in the panchayat election.

Political analysts feel that the party cannot file candidates in the election in 2018 and the rank and file of the party who were against the alliance are now quiting after the Central Committee’s statement on the alliance.