In the first major election after 2011 assembly poll the Trinamool Congress (TMC) got a jolt as it failed to capture two municipalities in Haldia and Cooper’s Camp. Of the six municipalities where elections were held on 3 June, TMC retained Panskura and won Durgapur Corporation, Dhupguri and Nalhati but contrary to the general expectations the Left and the Congress could retain their control over Haldia municipality and Cooper’s Camp Notified Area Authority respectively.
The victory of Congress in Cooper’s Camp (Nadia district) is significant as it strengthened the hands of that section of state Congress leaders who were openly critical of the continuing alliance with the TMC and have been demanding that their party should go alone. Congress leader Shankar Singh single-handedly fought against the TMC onslaught and came out with flying colors as the Congress won 11 out of 12 seats there despite a heavy mobilization of TC workers and in his area from other parts of the state.
“It is a clear proof that Congress can do well on its own. We should rely more on our own strength rather than depending on the alliance,” observes Adhir Chowdhury, who is a strong protagonist of the ‘no alliance’ line. A senior leader of PCC, who did not want to be identified, infers that with the souring of relation between the Congress and the TMC, those who are in favour of pursuing the line of compromise with the TMC will be marginalized within the party.
Earlier in April a number of state Congress leaders including Adhir Chowdhury, Abu Hasem Khan chowdhury, Deepa Dasmunshi and Shankar Singh demanded that the party should fight the coming Panchayat election alone. They claimed that in six districts (Malda, Murshidabad, Nadia, North Dinajpur, South 24 Parganas and Darjeeling) they won’t have any alliance with the TMC.
Though their demand has not elicited much support from the state and central leadership so far, the result of on Tuesday’s municipal election is likely to strengthen their voice.
Incidentally, while Shankar Singh could retain Cooper’s Camp, Congress suffered setback in Nalhati, where Pranab Mukherjee’s son and the local MLA tried hard in vain to regain control over the local municipality.
Ironically, Congress had won in the last election with handsome margin but after 2011 assembly election majority of the councilors joined TMC.
The TMC leaders put up a brave face describing on Tuesday’s result as a validation of the line pursued by their leader Mamata Banerjee and stressed the fact that of the total 129 wards of the six municipalities that went into poll, the TC strength had gone up from 29 to 72, which is no mean achievement. Mukul Roy, the party’s genera’ secretary has gone one step ahead with the claim that their party is strong enough to fight the coming elections without entering into any alliance with Congress. But in close circle a number of TMC leaders admit that the result in Haldia and Cooper’s Camp came to them as rude shock, more so as both the municipalities are located in the heart of south Bengal, the major support base of Mamata Banerjee’s politics.
