As Trinamool Congress (TMC) is all set to retain power for the third consecutive term in the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) – Leader of the Opposition (LoP) Suvendu Adhikari accused the State Election Commission (SEC) of allowing an “atmosphere of fear,” which helped the ruling party secure 134 out of 144 wards.
In a series of tweets, Adhikari, hinting at TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, said, “Congratulations to @CEOWestBengal Sourav Das for making the Royal Nephew of Bengal’s prediction come true. Important Steps taken by you such as EVM without VVPAT, CCTV without connection and last but not the least; allowing an atmosphere of fear to prevail with @KolkataPolice’s help.”
Further hitting out at SEC Sourav Das, Adhikari tweeted, “TMC – 134, BJP – 3, Left – 2, Congress – 2 and others – 3. Also congratulations in advance for the ‘Banga Bibhushan’ award that you would receive for all the hard work.”
Counting of votes for 144 wards of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) began at 8 am.
According to data, CPI (M) stood second against BJP in terms of poll percentage. TMC secured 71.95% votes, while CPI (M), BJP and Congress secured only 11%, 8.94% and 4.47% votes.
With the thumping victory, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said the BJP got washed away along with Congress and CPI (M). “BJP is ‘bhokatta’ (kite detached with string after kite-fighting) by the people, CPI (M) ‘no patta’ (not getting attention anymore) by the people and Congress is a sandwich between Left and the BJP.
BJP candidate Meena Devi Purohit, who won from ward number 22 (Jorasanko Assembly constituency) in the KMC poll, said, “I won my ward with more than 1,500 votes. I would like to express my gratitude towards the people of my area for supporting me. I am the sixth time councilor here in ward number 22 and all through my tenure I worked round the clock for the people. This is the reason they have decided to elect me once again.”
She said, “The election commission has failed to ensure free and fair polling and this is the reason why we could not make it to a significant figure in the KMC polls.”
Another BJP candidate Vijay Ojha, who won from ward 23 (his third straight victory from the same ward), said, “BJP would have got more seats if the election was conducted in a fair manner by the State Election Commission. The poll body worked in favour of the ruling TMC.”
The KMC is divided into 144 administrative wards, which are grouped into 16 boroughs.
In 2015, TMC had won 114 seats, out of total 144 Wards under KMC. Left parties won 15 seats, while BJP and Congress won seven and five seats.
During 2019 Lok Sabha polls, when political experts were busy in analyzing performances of various political parties especially BJP and TMC in Bengal – researchers in saffron camp had a reason to cheer as voting patterns suggested that in South and in North Kolkata, BJP took the lead in nearly 26 wards. Significantly, this included ward number 82 in Chetla which belongs to Mayor Firhad Hakim.
However, this time, after its stunning performance in the recently held assembly polls, the TMC restricted all the Opposition parties to single digit in the Kolkata civic elections.
State BJP president Sukanta Majumdar accused ruling TMC for winning the KMC polls through ill means.
Addressing a press conference, Majumdar said, “We have seen how the Left Front ruled the state through undemocratic ways. Now, TMC is doing the same thing. There is no democracy in the state. There is a saying – Mamata Banerjee is a brilliant student of the CPI (M) and she has proved it by following their footsteps.”
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