http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Article.aspx?eid=31804&articlexml=Trinamool-wins-Bengal-civic-polls-but-large-swathes-02052015016026
May 02 2015 : The Times of India (Mumbai) Trinamool wins Bengal civic polls, but large swathes are angry at being terrorised into silence Rakhi Chakrabarty Kolkata: In the last fortnight West Bengal agonised its way through a tranche of municipal elections to 92 civic bodies, includ ng the Kolkata Municipal Corporation KMC). Hyper-local they may be, but hese elections have a bearing on the health of democracy in general and on he wisdom of using cold statistics to gauge the real feel of politics. Statistics show the ruling Trinamool Congress led by chief minister Mamata Banerjee has consolidated its hegemony n Bengal. Trinamool won 71 of the 92 civic bodies. In Kolkata, the party won a record 114 of the 144 wards reducing the opposition to a minuscule minority . Yet, vanquished leftists found succour amid the wreckage. After a series of poll debacles the Left had almost lost ts place as the principal opposition in he state, as BJP burst on the scene riding a Modi wave in 2014 Lok Sabha elections. The civic polls, however, shattered BJP's dream of clawing its way to power in Bengal. Though BJP improved its tally in Kolkata from three to seven seats in the KMC, its vote share plunged from about 25% in 2014 general elections in Kolkata o about 15% in civic polls. The Left, on he contrary , found solace in getting back the place of the principal opposi tion, polling about 27% votes in Bengal and about 25% in Kolkata. Congress, which had been written off, managed to retain its strongholds in north Bengal and Murshidabad. While BJP could not win a single municipal body in Bengal, the Left won five and Congress four. The Left also managed to propel itself to pole position in banding opposition parties together. Wherever the opposition collectively put up a stiff resistance to violence and rigging, Trinamool stumbled. Two prime instances are Siliguri where former CPM minister Asok Bhattacharya led the party to victory and Forward Bloc's Udayan Guha in Dinhata. Another notable feature of the civic polls has already raised concerns among the Trinamool leadership. Preliminary civic poll analysis shows cracks in its minority support base. For instance, in about 23 wards in Kolkata where Muslims form a significant part of the population, Left parties and Congress have either won or increased their vote share. Overshadowing all this, however, are allegations of unbridled violence and terror. Across the political divide, opposition parties are unanimous that the result would have been very different if polls had not been rigged on such a massive scale using the police and administration. A senior BJP leader called the civic polls the most undemocratic in the history of elections. His arch-rivals from the Left and Congress agree completely .Large swathes of the electorate are furious or frustrated at being terrorised into silence. The ruling Trinamool, however, will hear nothing of this as they continue to defend the indefensible, even as people sit on blisters not of their own making. -- Peace Is Doable -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
