Ruling Trinamool Congress today inflicted a crushing defeat on BJP and the Left scoring a a landslide victory in the Kolkata Municipal Corporation(KMC), clinching 114 of the 144 wards and also winning 69 of the 91 civic bodies in districts across West Bengal.
The BJP, which was hoping to replace the Left as the main opposition in the KMC, failed miserably, managing to increase its tally from three to just seven seats.
The TMC, which in the last KMC polls had won 95 seats, increased its tally to 114 while the main opposition CPI(M)- led Left Front was reduced to just 15 from 33. Independents bagged three seats in the KMC.
The victory in the municipal polls, which was billed as the semifinal before the Assembly polls due early next year, will act as a shot in the arm for the TMC, which recently faced serious allegations of corruption, including alleged involvement of some of its leaders in the Saradha Chit Fund scam.
Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee termed the victory as "a befitting reply to the slanderous campaign carried out by the Opposition and a section of the media."
Congress, which was fast becoming insignificant in state politics, managed to win five seats, down from eight in 2010.
Although the TMC scored a big win, it got some blows too as several heavyweights bit the dust.
Chairman of the outgoing KMC board Sachidananda Banerjee, deputy mayor Farzana Alam of TMC besides prominent party councillor Paresh Pal were defeated.
On the part of CPI(M), the leader of opposition in the outgoing KMC board Rupa Bagchi was defeated by her nearest TMC rival.
Contrary to KMC, the results in the Siliguri Municipal Corporation showed the CPI(M)-led Left Front has managed to regain some of its lost ground capturing 23 of the 47 seats.
TMC bagged 17 seats in Siliguri Municipal Corporation, which was regarded as a prestige fight for TMC leader and state minister Gautam Deb and CPI(M) leader and former minister Ashok Bhattacharya.
The Congress won five seats while the BJP got two seats and an independent won one seat in Siliguri.
For the Left which suffered major electoral reverses in recent years, the victory in Siliguri Municipal Corporation came as a morale booster.
Apart from its big victory in the KMC, TMC showed impressive results in municipalities across the state.
The party snatched Sonamukhi in Bankura, Baduria, North Dum Dum in North 24-Parganas, Mathabhanga and Tufanganj in Coochbehar, Gayeshpur municipalities in Nadia from the Left and the Congress.
The Left Front won just five municipal bodies-- Jangipur, Dinhata, Daihat, Siliguri and Taherpur-- whereas the Congress won five municipalities - Murshidabad, Kandi, Jhalda, Kaliagunj and Islampur. The BJP failed to win even a single civic body.
The fate of 12 municipalities is undecided as none of the political parties managed to get a majority.
