Left's hope on hung rural bodies

TT, Siliguri, Nov. 8: The CPM today said it was confident of forming boards tomorrow at two panchayat samitis under the Siliguri Mahakuma Parishad where not a single party enjoyed absolute majority.

Of the four panchayat samitis under the SMP, the Left Front won majority in Matigara and Khanibari. However, in the other two panchayat samitis, Phansidewa and Naxalbari, not a single party reached the majority mark.

"Trinamul has threatened our candidates (who won the polls) and tried to get their supports through money and muscle power. But we are confident of forming boards in all four panchayat samitis of Matigara, Kharibari, Naxalbari and Phansidewa tomorrow. Our only aim is to keep Trinamul out of power and we are confident of doing it again like we did in Siliguri Municipal Corporation and SMP," said Jibesh Sarkar, the convener of the Darjeeling district Left Front.

Of the total 21 seats at Phansidewa, Trinamul won eight and the CPM, Congress and BJP get seven, five and one, respectively. The Left can grab power at Phansidewa if it can ensure the support of the Congress.

In Naxalbari, out of the total 18 seats, the CPM and Trinamul won eight each. The Congress and Independent won the other two seats.

Yesterday, the Left had formed boards in nine gram panchayats by allying with the Congress.

Jeevan Majumdar, the general secretary of the Darjeeling district Congress, said today: "We have already decided that won't ally with Trinamul as we have contested the SMP polls alone. After the results were declared, our candidates were pressured and even offered money by Trinamul. But we are keeping a close watch on all our winners and have sent a message to the grassroots workers that we will not ally with Trinamul."