Cong.(I) puts up good show in W. Bengal civic polls

By Our Special Correspondent

CALCUTTA, MAY 30. The Congress in West Bengal today proved the poll pundits wrong by putting an impressive performance in the just-concluded municipal polls, the results of which were announced showing the ruling Left Front leading the race and Trinamool Congress-BJP combine lagging far behind.

Predictably, there was jubilation in the Congress circles as the party established a lead in nine municipalities, which included Coochbehar, Santipur, Ranaghat, Birnagar, Vishnupur, Jainagar, Murshidabad.

The Front retained control of most of the municipalities while the Trinamool-BJP combine won three (till this report) wresting Sonamukhi from the Front and Contai from the Congress. In Chandrakona in Midnapore district, the Trinamool and the Front secured six seats each. The Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) retained the Mirik municipality. Chances of the Congress cobbling with the Trinamool in a few places appear to be bright.

``Those who thought the Congress was dead were proved wrong in this election. We will continue to have a strong presence in West Bengal politics in the days to come,'' Mr. Somen Mitra, the former State Congress president, said.

The civic polls made it clear that the Trinamool-BJP combine is still not ready to take on the leftists as well as the Congress at the grassroot-level where both the parties have strong organisational networks.

As expected, there was a great deal of soul-searching in the Trinamool camp after the results started pouring in during the day. Some of the senior leaders pointed out a number of reasons responsible for the party's debacle.

First, the party wasted a great deal of its time and energy on the mahajot or grand alliance, a formula worked out by the Trinamool supremo, Ms. Mamata Banerjee, to forge a united front of all anti-left forces.

Secondly, the intense intra-Trinamool bickerings between the old loyalists and the newcomers. Thirdly, the squabbles between the Trinamool and its partner, the BJP, over seats as well as the former's sudden softness towards a section of the West Bengal Congress.

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Section  : National
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