Asok for Cong tie-up in rural bodies

BIRESWAR BANERJEE ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY AVIJIT SINHA, TT, Siliguri, Oct. 8: Asok Bhattacharya today urged the Congress to support the Left Front to form boards at one panchayat samiti and at least six gram panchayats, where no party enjoyed absolute majority, in order to keep Trinamul out of power, taking the much talked about "Siliguri model" one step closer to formalisation.

Although the Congress said it could consider the alliance with the Left Front only after receiving the proposal formally, insiders in the Congress said the party had no option other than to tie up with the CPM.

Out of four panchayat samitis under the Siliguri Mahakuma Parishad, two are hung, while 11 of the total 22 gram panchayats have a fractured mandate (see chart).

The Siliguri mayor and CPM state secretariat member, Bhattacharya, said: "Our sole objective is to keep Trinamul out of power. Ahead of the SMP polls, we had appealed to all political parties to join hands and prevent the ruling party from resorting to any unethical means on the voting day."

He added: "Now that we have secured majority in the upper tier of the SMP, we will appeal to the Congress to support us in forming the boards at the hung panchayat samitis and gram panchayats. As far as we know, the Congress also believes in our strategy to stand united against Trinamul. The party contested the SMP polls this time without allying with Trinamul, unlike 2009 (when the last SMP polls were held). We hope the party will respond to our appeal."

This is the first time that Bhattacharya, the key person behind the "Siliguri model" where he brought the Left and the Congress together for ground-level co-ordination to take on Trinamul, has spoken of a formal tie-up between the Congress and the Left.

"We have secured majority at Matigara and Kharibari panchayat samitis and can form the board in Phansidewa if Congress joins hands with us. Similarly, we can rule most of the 11 panchayats which are hung. In Naxalbari panchayat samiti, we will try and seek support from others to prevent Trinamul from forming the board," said Bhattacharya.

The CPM leader ruled out the possibility of resorting to horse trading, a trend seen in 2012 when Trinamul poached elected representatives of the Left and the Congress and secured majority at the SMP, all the four panchayat samitis and around 18 gram panchayats.

"We are aware that Trinamul leaders, who have failed to obtain favourable results, might resort to unethical means. However, they will not succeed this time as people have also voted against such practices by the ruling party. A number of elected representatives at the SMP who had left the CPM and the Congress to join Trinamul miserably lost this time. The results show that people did not endorse their decisions," said the mayor.

Former sabhadhipati of the SMP Jyoti Tirkey and Congress leaders like Mousumi Bagh Pranabesh Mondal, Sunil Ghosh and Rajkumar Thapa are among those who had defected to Trinamul during the previous term of the rural body and lost the polls this year.

Congress MLA Manas Bhuniya said tonight it was up to the local leadership to take a call on the alliance offer. "We at the state level can take a decision only after getting a feedback from them."

The Darjeeling district Congress president, Sankar Malakar, said the party was yet to receive a proposal for an alliance from the Left. "We have not received any proposal from Left Front, seeking our support to form boards in different hung panchayats. Once we receive such communication, we will discuss it and take the right decision," Malakar said.

However, Congress sources said the party was left with the only option of teaming up with the Left.

"In the SMP area, it was the Congress which had suffered most in terms of exodus of leaders and workers into Trinamul. The results announced yesterday show the depletion in the Congress's support base. The party could not secure a single seat in the SMP or a majority in any of the 22 gram panchayats and four panchayat samitis. So, what other option is available for the Congress than to ally with the Left to administer some rural bodies?" asked a Congress leader who didn't want to be named.

The north Bengal development minister and Darjeeling district president of Trinamul, Gautam Deb, said his party was also exploring options to form boards in some of the hung panchayats.

"There are a number of hung panchayats where we need support of just one or two members to reach the majority mark. In many of these panchayats, there are Independents and winners from other political parties who are not willing to go with the Left. We can ally with them," said Deb.

SMP chief

Tapas Kumar Sarkar is being considered for the position of the SMP chief, said sources in the CPM.

Tapas, who is a teacher of history at Bagdogra College, is one of the front-runners for the post of sabhadhipati of Siliguri Mahakuma Parishad. Ainul Haque, a businessman, is the top contender for the post of the leader of opposition at the SMP.

While Tapas has won from a seat in Matigara block and defeated the Trinamul candidate by 1,126 votes, Ainul won from a seat in Phansidewa block, securing 4,695 votes more than the Congress candidate who came second in the seat.