The Trinamool Congress continued to sweep the rural polls this time pocketing 13 out of 17 zilla parishads (district boards) considered politically crucial to hold sway in a given district upping by its tally by almost 600 per cent.
While in 2008 the TMC won two district boards while in 2013 it has bagged 13. On the contrary, Opposition left Front has slumped from a tally of 13 boards in 2008 to barely one this year round.
More startlingly, Banerjee’s party has nearly ousted the left Front from what was hitherto considered the State’s Red zone of West Midnapore, Bankura, Purulia and Burdwan. Out of 197 zilla parishad seats in the four districts the ruling party has won 177 seats. The left has managed only 18 leaving two for the Congress. The Marxist’s rout has been so convincing that in West Midnapore it has ended behind the Congress winning only one seat.
The Trinamool’s victory is more convincing in South Bengal where it has won 11 out of 12 districts failing,
however, to snatch Murshidabad from Congress leader and junior Railway Minister Adhir Chowdhury.
Painting the State green the ruling party has captured 13 zilla parishads and 213 out of 329 panchayat samities. In terms of gram panchayats the party has won more than 50 per cent seats winning 1763 out of 3215 gram sabhas.
Though the party has been able to lift Cooch Behar and South Dinajpur in northern part of the State, it is comfortably sitting in deciding position in Malda and North Dinajpur where left has won the most number of seats yet falling short of majority.
Describing her passing the agnipariksha as symbol of ‘people’s confidence on us’ Chief Minister reminded her former ally Congress how “we have won it alone” against the ‘conspiracy, negativism, cricitism, misinformation and machinations perpetrated’ by Congress, CPI(M), BJP and different Central agencies.
“I dedicate this victory to the people of Bengal,” she said reminding how her party has erased the left from the Red zone and Jangalmahal.
Notwithstanding, the TMC’s stupendous results the left seems to have managed to crawl back in areas where it had been ousted completely in 2009 and 2011: North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas, Nadia and Birbhum.
Going by the 2011 Assembly election standards the left has won 79 out of 244 district board seats in the four districts which is a
gain of about 35 seats from 2011. Particularly in Nadia a Trinamool zone the left has won 21 while the ruling party has bagged 25 seats.
“We will have to sit and introspect as to where we fared unimpressively in these four districts,” senior Bengal Minister Partho Chatterjee said.
The biggest loser is, however, the Congress which has lost Malda and North Dinajpur district boards. While in Malda the left has won 17 seats, the Congress and Trinamool have won 16 and five each. In Union Minister Deepa Dasmunshi’s North Dinajpur the left has won 13 seats while the Congress has won eight and Trinamool five.
“We have done well in four South Bengal districts and would do better in the lok Sabha elections assuming there would be less violence and State oppression then” former CPI(M) MP Sujan Chakrabarty said even as others wondered how the group was routed in jangalmahal districts of Bankura, Purulia and West Midnapore.
“Perhaps the job scheme in police force, Rs2-a-kg rice scheme and the relative peace in Jangalmahal after the death of Kishenji have played a part,” veteran leader and activist Ashim Chatterjee said adding how the Opposition had been literally banished from these districts and not allowed to campaign.