Verbal consent from state on rural poll date - Political parties try to woo local players to gain maximum seats

State election commissioner SR Upadhaya.
File picture

SOUMYA DE SARKAR, TT, Siliguri, July 13: The government has in principle agreed to hold the Siliguri Mahakuma Parishad polls on October 3, along with three civic bodies of south Bengal, the state election commissioner said today.

The state election chief added that the commission was waiting for a written confirmation from the state after which an announcement would be made.

"We had sent a letter to the state government a couple of days back mentioning that we were in favour of holding the three-tier rural polls of the Siliguri Mahakuma Parishad on October 3, along with elections to three municipal corporations. We have got a verbal consent from the state that it has no problem if the SMP elections are held on that date," Sushanta Ranjan Upadhaya, the state election commissioner, said.

"We are waiting for a written confirmation and once it reaches us, we will formally make the announcement," Upadhaya told The Telegraph over phone from Calcutta.

With the rural poll dates to be announced soon, the CPM, the Congress and the BJP are eyeing the support of local parties to secure maximum seats. Leaders of the three parties today said they were exploring all possible avenues to forge alliances with parties like the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikas Parishad (ABAVP) and Kamtapur Progressive Party.

Although Trinamul leaders are tight-lipped about their strategy - whether they will scout for prospective allies - insiders said such attempts would be made.

"The contest will be among the Congress, the Left and Trinamul. But each party is aware that if alliances can be forged at the local level, which is a common feature in rural polls, it would help them score some brownie points over their political contenders," said a political observer.

While the Morcha has considerable followers in Matigara and Naxalbari blocks, KPP has secured vote banks at Phansidewa, Khoribari and Matigara. "As far as ABAVP is concerned, there is a substantial tribal population in these blocks, particularly in the tea gardens of the Terai. Phansidewa, one of the two Assembly seats in the SMP area, is a reserved seat for STs," said the observers.

Jibesh Sarkar, the Darjeeling CPM secretary, said: "We will speak to the leaders of parties and organisations like the GJM and ABAVP as they have support base in different areas of Siliguri subdivision. If the talks mature, there might be alliances at local levels."

Sankar Malakar, the Darjeeling Congress president, said: "We will seek support from the KPP, GJM and ABAVP. Our principal contender is Trinamul."

Rathin Bose, the district BJP chief, could not be contacted. A party leader, however, said that they would target local parties for support. "The GJM and KPP supported us in the 2014 Parliament polls. We will try to continue with the alliance. We will also speak to the ABAVP for local-level alliance," a leader said.

Leaders of local parties said they were keeping their options open. "We had a significant contribution to BJP's victory from Darjeeling seat in the Lok Sabha poll in 2014. But for the SMP polls, we are keeping our options open," Atul Roy, the KPP president, said. "There is no friend or foe in politics. Political parties try to get benefit from us and then neglect our demands. We will be careful so that our demands are honoured."

Shankar Adhikari, the Morcha convener for the Terai region, said BJP leaders had spoken to him today. "We told them that issues for SMP polls are different. The party central committee will take a final decision."

Birsha Tirkey, the state president of the Parishad, said: "We have not been approached by any political party. But we have excellent relations with chief minister Mamata Banerjee. We had supported Trinamul in the last Parliament polls and it is unlikely that we will suddenly switch our loyalty."