E-Paper
Mamata Banerjee praises people as TMC is headed for landslide win in civic polls
Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) elections: Around noon, the TMC was leading in 130 out of 144 wards. The BJP was ahead in the five wards that it controlled earlier and the CPI(M) in two
KOLKATA: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee thanked the people on Tuesday as the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) was headed for a landslide victory in the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) elections held on Sunday amid allegations of violence and rigging in some areas.
Around Tuesday noon, the TMC was leading in 130 out of 144 wards. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was ahead in the five wards that it controlled earlier and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPI (M) in two.
“This is people’s victory. We are grateful to the people of Bengal. We will work more for the people and be humbler. We are proud of Kolkata and Bengal. BJP, Congress, and CPI(M) have been defeated by the people. This mandate will help us work for development and for the people,” Banerjee said.
The trend was not unexpected, said TMC state general secretary Kunal Ghosh. “Neither the BJP nor the Left parties have any support base in Kolkata.”
Also Read: Goa MLA Aleixo Reginaldo joins TMC day after resigning from Congress
Security was tightened at the counting centres, and parts of Kolkata after the incidents of violence on the polling day. Three people were injured in a crude bomb explosion in northeast Kolkata. Over a dozen clashes were reported and 70 arrests were made. Five candidates, including one from the TMC, were injured.
The BJP and the CPI(M) have filed separate petitions before the Calcutta high court alleging violence and rigging. The petitions, which demanded repolling, will be heard on December 23.
BJP leader Samik Bhattacharya said it is surprising that Opposition parties are ahead in a handful of wards. “The TMC should have won all 144 wards. Even when violence was on in some polling stations on Sunday, a joint commissioner of police said that polls were held peacefully. That proved how this election was held,” said Bhattacharya.
