TMC wrests control over Berhampore Municipality

Political analysts have described it as a massive dent into the Congress bastion which was a stronghold of West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury for years.

It may be recalled that TMC had already taken over three municipalities in Murshidabad and now the Zilla Parishad.  Beldanga, Jangipur and Azimgunj-Ziagunj municipalities have already come under TMC. The Trinamool once had a negligible presence, having just one seat in the Zilla Parishad. Now, the TMC has gained the upper hand.

The 17 Councillors, who were in Congress till Saturday, officially joined TMC at the party headquarters in Kolkata.

Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee handed over the party flag to them, saying “There will not be any sign of Congress and CPI(M) in Murshidabad. We’ll also capture the other two municipalities there. They have already contacted us.”

Earlier, TMC had two Councillors in Berhampore Municipality. One of them died, limiting the party’s representation in the civic board to just one. Now, with 17 Councillors from Congress joining their fold, Trinamool will be in majority in the board with 18 councillors.

One more Congress councillor is expected to join Trinamool soon at a meeting presided over by state Transport minister Suvendu Adhikari in Murshidabad.

“There is no alternative to Trinamool Congress,” Banerjee added.

Meanwhile, Nilratan Adhya, the incumbent chairman of the Berhampore Municipality blamed  non-development of Berhampore to be the reason for the shift in power. “Berhampore Municipality was ill-developed till date. But this is the time to bring development under the leadership of Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee,” Adhya said.

Chief Minister and TMC supremo had entrusted  Suvendu Adhikari the responsibility for the party’s administration in Murshidabad

Political pundits believe that Adhikari made deep inroads, denting Adhir Chowdhury’s bastion and posing further headaches for Congress in Bengal. Adhikari revamped the organisation in the district, and inducted new faces. In the last Assembly election, Trinamool won four seats in this district.

On the other hand, the WBPCC decided to remove Abu Hena from the post of district president of Congress in Murshidabad on Sunday. He will be replaced by Abu Taher Khan. However, a WBPCC insider said that Hena himself resigned from the post following Trinamool’s capture of Berhampore Municipality. He also took responsibility for the erosion of the party’s base in the state, reportedly caused due to infighting.