Congress MP and Minister of State for Railways Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury today refused to give credit to the Trinamool Congress which bagged two seats in his backyard in the local civic body elections and said the TMC candidates won "owing to their own calibre".
"The Trinamool Congress and the Left jointly fought against the Congress in Baharampur, but we have finally emerged victorious," Chowdhury told reporters while reacting to the results.
In Baharampur Municipality, which is the headquarter of Murshidabad district, the TMC won two wards for the first time, where the Congress won 23 of the 25 seats.
There was no opposition to the Congress in the civic body for the past 15 years (three consecutive terms).
"At a time when the Congress is disintegrating in the districts, this win is significant for the party and will allow us to consolidate our support base and strengthen the party," Chowdhury said.
On the first ever win of Trinamool Congress in the civic body, Chowdhury said about his one-time close associates Kanai Roy and Pradip Nandi who emerged victorious on TMC tickets from wards 3 and 5 respectively, "The candidates won owing to their own calibre."
"We (Congress) had joined the campaign process quite late as there was a threat on me about my implication in a false case and my subsequent arrest. It demoralised many Congress workers. Moreover, the TMC got the full backing of the police and administration," he said.
In 2008 also, the results for Baharmpur municipality were 25-0 in favour of the Congress.
