SMP elections: Two Trinamul Congress leaders for top job

Ainul Haque and Arun Ghosh are the two successful candidates whose names are doing the rounds at different levels of the ruling party

Trinamul supporters celebrate after the party’s victory at the three-tier polls of the Siliguri Mahakuma Parishad on Wednesday.: The Telegraph

TT Correspondent   |   Siliguri   |    02.07.22  : Two Trinamul leaders who have won the Siliguri Mahakuma Parishad elections (SMP), the results of which were declared on Wednesday, are said to be the frontrunners for the post of Sabhadhipati of the rural body of the Siliguri sub-division.

Ainul Haque, who has won from Phansidewa block, and Arun Ghosh, who got elected from Naxalbari, are the two successful candidates whose names are doing the rounds at different levels of the ruling party for the top post of the SMP. 

“We are sending the list of successful candidates to our state leadership. We will also mention the names of Haque and Ghosh, both of whom belong to the other backward classes, as the sabhadhipati’s post is reserved for an OBC,” said a senior Trinamul functionary here on Friday.  

Another contender for the post had been Kajal Ghosh, who however, is the sole Trinamul candidate to lose. Out of the nine seats of the SMP, the party has bagged eight seats while one seat went to the BJP.

Since 1989, when the SMP was formed following the dissolution of the Darjeeling Zilla Parishad, this is the first time that Mamata Banerjee’s party has bagged the rural body.  

“Ainul Haque is an experienced person among the candidates and has won in different tiers of the panchayat since 1989 in the Opposition bench, when the Left used to dominate the entire panchayat system. Considering his experience, he is definitely one of the frontrunners for the Sabhadhipati’s post,” the Trinamul leader added.

In 2013, Haque joined Trinamul from the Congress and had been the leader of the Opposition at the SMP. 

This time, he won with a margin of 2,000 votes. 

“I have been contesting in rural body elections for the past 23 years and haven’t faced defeat so far. However, it is the party leadership that will make the decision,” he said.

Arun Ghosh, on the other hand, has won with a margin of 1,200 votes and has defeated Gautam Ghosh, a senior Citu and CPM leader.

Sources in Trinamul said that for the post of sahakari sabhadhipati, the deputy chief of the SMP, the party might select any of the three women candidates who have emerged as winners.

Among them is Jyoti Tirkey, a former sabhadhipati who has won from Matigara, Priyanka Biswas and Roma Rashmi Ekka.

“Among all the eight candidates, Ekka has won with the highest margin (of 14,810 votes). She is, however, new in politics as compared to the other two,” said a Trinamul leader.