Mamata heeds Asok plea on Siliguri board .... 'The chief minister is keen on giving space to the Left and the Congress as part of a strategic move'

TT, 30 June 2019, Siliguri: The Siliguri Jalpaiguri Development Authority board will be reconstituted by including local MLAs of the Left and the Congress, Siliguri mayor and CPM legislator Asok Bhattacharya said here on Saturday.

According to Bhattacharya, chief minister Mamata Banerjee told him about the decision when he met her along with other Left MLAs in the Assembly on Friday.

The board of the SJDA so far had leaders and elected representatives from only Trinamul. “She instructed Firhad Hakim, the minister for urban development and municipal affairs, to reconstitute the board,” said Bhattacharya.

The move is being seen as part of Mamata’s inclusive approach in the aftermath of her party’s reverses and the BJP’s gains in the Lok Sabha elections.

The BJP won seven of the eight Lok Sabha seats in north Bengal. Polls to the Left-run Siliguri civic body are due next year.

“She (Mamata) may be thinking the inclusion of local Congress and Left MLAs (in the board) will help both the parties and, in turn, help Trinamul in its fight against the BJP,” said the observer.

Many in Trinamul believe that if the Left and the Congress could have retained their vote shares, the BJP would not have bagged 18 seats in Bengal.

“The chief minister is keen on giving space to the Left and the Congress as part of a strategic move,” the observer said.