Stage set for Bengal municipal battle royale

The ruling Trinamool Congress and its arch rival Left Front are once again pitted against each other in next Saturday's election to two municipalities, which is deemed as the last great fight before next year's Assembly election.
The TMC's electoral invincibility will be challenged by an apparently resurgent Left Front in the crucial election, which poll pundits have dubbed as a dress rehearsal for the big fight next year.
Amid allegations of violence, the campaign for the election to the Asansol Municipal Corporation (106 wards) and Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation (41) is due to end this afternoon marked by rancour.
The results will be announced on October 16.

The Asansol Municipal Corporation was formed by merging Raniganj, Jamuria and Kulti municipalities while the Bidhannagar corporation was constituted by merging Bidhannagar and Rajarhat-Gopalpur municipalities.
The TMC's campaign in the Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation (BMC) is led by state Food Supplies Minister and party's North 24-Parganas district president Jyotipriyo Mullick.

The TMC campaign was hobbled by frequent faction fights, requiring party supremo Mamata Banerjee to intervene. She conducted a meeting with various TMC groups led by MLA Sujit Bose, MLA Sabyasachi Dutta, and Tapas Chatterjee, a CPI(M) leader who had recently switched over to the party.
Asked to react on the alleged infighting, Mullick said, "This is nothing but created by media. TMC is a united family and we will win the polls unitedly. The people will vote for the developmental work ushered by Mamata Banerjee."

The TMC had engaged party MP and nephew of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Abhishek for campaigning in the polls.
He was assisted by state education minister and TMC secretary general Partha Chatterjee and TMC party president Subrata Bakshi.
The opposition parties on the other hand alleged that the TMC was using a reign of terror to terrorise voters ahead of the polls.