Jalpaiguri: TMC wins 66 of 80 GP

Jalpaiguri: Trinamool emerged victorious once again in the Panchayat election in the Jalpaiguri district. Out of 80 Gram Panchayats in the district, Trinamool secured control over 66. TMC took over all nine Panchayat Samitis (PS) in the district.

Furthermore, TMC defeated BJP, Congress, and the Left Front in all 24 seats of the Zilla Parishad.

Former Sabhadhipatis Nurjahan Begum and Uttara Burman won seats in the Zilla Parishad. In addition, Mahua Gope, the district TMC president and Pranayita Das emerged victorious, with Pranayita being the youngest candidate in the Zilla Parishad.

After the 2018 rural polls in Jalpaiguri district, the number of seats in the Gram Panchayat, Panchayat Samiti, and Zilla Parishad had increased. However, despite this, the TMC managed a thumping victory.

In the 2018 election, the total number of seats in the 80 GPs of the district was 1,347. TMC secured 922 seats, BJP 308, Left Front secured 58, Congress won 21 and others obtained 38 seats.

TMC controlled 76 Gram Panchayats and all seven PS and 19 Zilla Parishad.

In this year’s elections, the number of Gram Panchayat seats was increased to 1,701, PS increased from 7 to 9, and ZP increased from 19 to 24.

Mahua Gope, district TMC president, said: “This victory is Mamata Banerjee’s victory. However, after the last Lok Sabha election, the party faced some organisational deficiencies, which affected the results of the Legislative Assembly election. We have strengthened our organization, and this result is a reflection of both the government’s efforts and the provision of benefits to the common people.”

In the 2018 Panchayat polls, BJP won 308 out of 1,347 Gram Panchayat seats. Subsequently, BJP secured the Jalpaiguri Lok Sabha seat in 2019. In the current election, as per the official announcement, BJP won 440 out of 1,701 Panchayat seats.

Issues like withholding payments for 100 days work have created dissatisfaction among the common people towards BJP opine political observers.

Moreover, the BJP’s organisational weaknesses in the district is a major contributing factor to their loss.

BJP president Bapi Goswami stated: “Compared to last time, we have secured a significantly higher number of seats. Additionally, we have gained control over eight Gram Panchayats.” The CPI(M) has lost the Angrabhasha GP, known as the CPI(M) stronghold.