Calcuuta civic polls: Trinamool, Left heading for showdown

By Our Special Correspondent

CALCUTTA, JUNE 16. With barely a week to go for the prestigious Calcutta Municipal Corporation elections, parties in West Bengal are readying for a showdown.

The ruling Left Front is ahead of the others in campaigning. Buoyed at the Left's defeat in Panskura parliamentary by- election, the Opposition Trinamool Congress-BJP combine, the Congress and others have entered the arena full steam. Neighbourhoods are reverberating with blaring loudspeakers, slogan-chanting and late evening meetings. The roads and walls have turned into a forest of banners, graffiti, buntings and posters.

The Congress(I), which decided against having a truck with the Trinamool Congress, has unveiled, after much dithering, a campaign with help of senior leaders like Mr. Pranab Mukherjee, Mr. P.R. Dasmunshi and Mr. Somen Mitra, who are criss-crossing the city from dawn to dusk hardselling their candidates. The Union Railway Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo, Ms. Mamata Banerjee, will unveil her party's campaign today in Salt Lake where the party and its ally, the BJP, failed to come to an understanding regarding candidates.

The poll is expected to be a high voltage event with the political parties engaged in a do-or-die battle. For the Leftists, especially the CPI(M), winning the election is crucial to retain their grip on the urban voters who, the media claims, are enamoured of both the Trinamool and the BJP. But, the intra- party strife and controversies centering round the Transport Minister, Mr. Subhash Chakraborty, and a few others are making things difficult for the CPI(M). The Chief Minister, Mr. Jyoti Basu, will participate in the campaign alongside other senior leaders.

The Congress(I) is on a weak wicket. The party's disastrous performance in Panskura as well as the failure of the mahajot or the grand alliance with the Trinamool have dampened the spirit of party workers. Ms. Banerjee has said that she was no longer interested in the mahajot after her party's spectacular show in Panskura. Upset with Ms. Banerjee for treating it shabbily, the Congress(I), too, has turned its back on her saying it was strong enough to fight alone.

Initially, the party was confident of securing at least 30 of the 141 wards, but now it says winning 15 to 20 wards would be a big thing. The party is trying to impress its president, Ms. Sonia Gandhi, to ask the RJD chief, Mr. Laloo Prasad Yadav, to campaign in the city to woo the Hindi-speaking voters.

The Trinamool is not without worries either. The friction between the party and the BJP has assumed such proportions that the two are fighting each other in at least 12 of the 23 wards in Salt Lake. In many other wards, the parties are engaged in preparing plans for sabotaging their opponents' candidates.

The person who is grabbing most attention is Mr. Mohammad Rafiq, who masterminded the Trinamool's win in Panskura. Mr. Rafiq is in the city at Ms. Banerjee's behest with a brief to kindle the battle spirit among Trinamool workers. The Trinamool functionary is breathing fire at public meetings and closed door sessions with his colleagues giving them lessons on how to manage an election.

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Section  : Other States
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