TMC civic poll vow - Trinamul starts hill civic campaign with promise to give a fight

Vivek Chhetri, TT, Darjeeling, Aug. 8: The Trinamul Congress (hills) today kicked off its campaign for elections to four municipalities scheduled for December this year and vowed to make sure that there would be contest in all the bodies unlike in 2011.

Addressing a public meeting at Chowk Bazar in Darjeeling today, N.B. Khawash, the spokesman for Trinamul (hills), said: "We are determined to end the politics of selection and will ensure that proper elections are held in the hill municipalities. There has been widespread corruption in Darjeeling municipality and we have filed an RTI to find out details of funds flow to the hill body and their utilisation."

In the 2011 municipality elections, all 32 wards in Darjeeling, 23 in Kalimpong and 20 in Kurseong were won by the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha uncontested.

Elections were held only in five of the nine wards of Mirik municipality but even they were won by the Morcha.

Khawash, however, today said Trinamul would ensure that proper elections were held in all the hill municipalities this time around.

"Proper elections will be held and people must uproot the Morcha. The Darjeeling municipality has not been able to keep the town spic and span and what else can one expect from the Morcha," he said.

"We have a clear vision and mission for Darjeeling. We will not go after commissions. Trinamul means a strike-free Darjeeling, Trinamul means voice of the poor and Trinamul means development of the hills, municipalities," said Khawash.

In the recent Assembly elections, Trinamul joined hands with the Jana Andolan Party and the GNLF. Even though the alliance lost all three hill Assembly seats, the Morcha's victory margin came down by 68.5 per cent compared to its performance in 2011. The JAP-TMC-GNLF combine had led in 19 wards in Kalimpong, nine in Kurseong and one ward in Darjeeling in the Assembly elections.