Civic poll results to test Left's Nandigram wisdom

Results of the polls in five municipalities and 516 panchayat seats in Bengal on May 30 will prove to be the acid test for the ruling Left Front's land acquisition policy.

It will act as a pointer to the future strategies to be adopted by the Left Front, which will meet on June 2 to discuss Nandigram as leaders Forward Bloc, RSP and CPI worked to hold another all-party meeting to restore normalcy in the troubled area.

Elections were held on Sunday for 104 seats of five municipalities "" Panskura, Dhupguri, Durgapur, Nalhati and Cooper's Camp. Byelections were held in 11 wards of 10 municipalities, as well as 24 zilla parishads, 94 panchayat samities and 398 gram panchayats.

Counting will be held on May 30 and results declared the same day.

The polls are significant as Nandigram has been an issue uppermost in the minds of the political parties and the electorate.

Parties are eager to see how the polls reflect people's views on the land acquisition policy.

Of the five civic bodies that went to polls, the CPM controlled Panskura Municipality in East Midnapore is closest to Nandigram.

Chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and Mamata Banerjee addressed rallies at Panskura to put forward their views on the land acquisition policies.

However, both Congress and the Trinamool Congress refused to call it an acid test for Left Front.

Trinamool leader and Leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly Partha Chatterjee said that it cannot be called an acid test as all the five municipal bodies were under control of the Left Front and 57 of the 398 gram panchayat seats were under our control. Trinamool has nothing to lose and whatever gain will come will be considered a dent in the rural support of the CPI(M).

Congress Legislature Party Leader Manas Bhuniya said by-election in seats scattered all over the state cannot really reflect the people's opinion.

Meanwhile, the Left readied for a round of talks to fix the agenda of the proposed second round of talks to restore peace in the troubled area of Nandigram.

Forward Bloc leader Ashok Ghosh, who has been authorised by CPI(M) to hold all party meetings on Nandigram, spoke to Front chairman Biman Bose and fixed June 2 for discussions on Nandigram.

Ghosh had earlier said that he wanted a discussion with the Left Front before he contacted Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee again.

The last meeting failed when Mamata walked out following differences with CPI(M) participants over the wording of the draft resolution on the March 14 police firing at Nandigram that left 14 dead.