Left supports Cong for Siliguri Mayor post, defeats Trinamool

The Congress won the Mayor's post in Siliguri Municipal Corporation in North Bengal with the support of Left Front councillors, pipping ally Trinamool Congress which had refused to concede it.

The Congress on Wednesday won the Mayor's post in Siliguri Municipal Corporation in North Bengal with the support of Left Front councillors, pipping ally Trinamool Congress which had refused to concede it.

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Sources in the corporation said Congress candidate Gangotri Dutta received 32 votes against Trinamool Congress aspirant Goutam Deb's 15 in the 47-member corporation board.

Reacting to the result, Trinamool candidate Goutam Deb said the election had "exposed the character" of the Congress which had always had 'good relations with Marxists'.

"We have decided to sit in the opposition and let the Left Front and Congress run the Board," he said.

In the September 13 elections in the corporation, the Trinamool Congress and Congress combine wrested the post from the Left Front after 27 years by winning 30 seats while the latter won 17 seats.

Since the UPA allies failed to reach a consensus on the post of Mayor, both the parties fielded their own candidates for the post.

He received the support of all 17 Left Front councillors-- CPI(M) 15 and RSP and Fowrard Bloc one each.