Asok stands by Siliguri Model

BIRESWAR BANERJEE, TT, Siliguri, May 20: Mayor Asok Bhattacharya today said there was no reason to junk the Siliguri Model, where the Left Front and the Congress worked together to defeat Trinamul.

"We have proved that the strategy can work. There is no reason to belittle it. There are many leaders in the Left Front who had initially refused to accept the theory of allying with the Congress. I had to hear several comments from such people who felt that the strategy would not work. But we have proved in three consecutive elections that an indomitable political force like Trinamul can be defeated in Siliguri," Bhattacharya told journalists today.

He was referring to the polls to the Siliguri Municipal Corporation and Siliguri Mahakuma Parishad last year and the Assembly polls, in which the alliance won from three seats in Siliguri subdivision.

"We have not won these elections by fluke and 'grace of God.' It was made possible by the strategy (Siliguri Model) and persistent toil by leaders of both the Left Front and the Congress," said the CPM state secretariat member.

Bhattacharya said Trinamul should refrain from trying to grab the Left-led civic board at the Siliguri Municipal Corporation.

"If they (Trinamul) do it by resorting to unethical steps, it will be a mistake. I suggest that they respect people's mandate and wait till 2020 when the tenure of the present civic board will end," the mayor said.