TMC kept out of rural bodies - Left, Parishad and Cong join hands to form boards

Toppo after being elected.
Picture by Kundan Yolmo

TT, Siliguri, Nov. 9: The CPM today entered into an alliance with the Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikas Parishad and the Congress to keep Trinamul away from power at two panchayat samities under the Siliguri Mahakuma Parishad.

The Left Front had majority in two panchayat samities - Kharibari and Matigara. Today, the Front tied up with non-Trinamul parties to form boards at Naxalbari and Phansidewa panchayat samities, which were hung.

In Naxalbari, of the total 18 seats, the CPM had won eight. The party got the magic figure with the support of two winners of the Parishad and one of the Congress. Trinamul's seven candidates did not participate in the electoral process today and walked out from the block office before the board was formed.

Saroj Kiran Toppo of the Parishad became the sabhapati and Md Islam of the CPM became the deputy.

"Our aim was to keep Trinamul out of power and we appealed to all political parties (to join). We are overwhelmed that they reciprocated. After keeping away Trinamul in the panchayats, we have sent a message that Trinamul no longer enjoys indomitable status in the state," said Siliguri mayor Asok Bhattacharya, who is also a CPM state secretariat member.

At Phansidewa, of the total 21 seats, Trinamul had eight. Later, the party got support from two members, one each from the BJP and the Congress. The Left, which had seven seats, formed the board with support of four Congress members.

Biswajit Nandi and Nistar Lakra of the CPM became the sabhapati and the deputy, respectively.

Today, the Left formed the board at Matigara and Kharibari as well.

A local Trinamul leader said they were kept in dark about the formation of the rural boards by the district leadership. "The district leaders did not bother to consult us before selecting candidates and we were ignored after the results. No strategy was followed to form the boards," a senior party leader said.

Ranjan Sarkar, the newly-appointed president of Darjeeling district Trinamul, however, said the way the boards were formed proved the CPM-Congress nexus once again. "We have accepted defeat against the tacit understanding between the two parties. We will analyse the results and work for better outcome in the coming Assembly polls."