Trinamul grabs Malbazar

TT, Jan. 15: The Trinamul Congress today formed the board at the Malbazar municipality with Swapan Saha as the new chairman, taking the total number of civic bodies under the party in north Bengal up to five.

The Left-run board was voted out in a no-confidence motion brought by Trinamul today.

Saha’s name for the post of chairman was proposed by Sulekha Ghosh, another Trinamul councillor. The Left didn’t field any candidate. Saha later said the vice-chairman would be elected soon.

The Left formed the board in the 15-member municipality after winning eight seats in the elections in 2009. However, a CPI councillor quit and the seat she represented was won by Trinamul in a bypoll, reducing the Left’s strength to seven. The bypoll result increased Trinamul’s tally to four and the party could bring to its fold all four Congress councillors also.

Subsequently, the Left chairperson and the vice-chairperson quit.

The new chairman said he would focus on building a garbage dumping ground and ensure the development of slums.

Minister Gautam Deb said it was a matter of time for Trinamul to bag the Alipurduar municipality run by the minority board of the Left.