Former finance minister of Bengal Asim Dasgupta defeated

KOLKATA: The rout of the communist party still continues in Bengal with CPM losing all the three municipalities in Bengal. The longest serving finance minister in Bengal and former chairman of the state finance minister's committee that drafted GST, Asim Dasgupta has been defeated by a margin of around 1400 votes. Dasgupta, the 70 year old economist was fielded in ward 32 and was projected as the mayoral candidate of the party.

When contacted, Dasgupta told ET, "In Bidhannagar election, the verdict of the people is not reflected. The result reflects the extent of vote loot. People of Bidhannagar ( Salt Lake) are genuinely aggrieved. Their anger and anguish would be reflected in assembly election."

This is his third defeat in an electoral fight in last four and half years. Dasgupta lost the 2011 assembly elections and then the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. The party fielded Dasgupta as the mayoral candidate in Bidhannagar (Salt Lake) municipality election saying, he, an 'erudite' person and a resident of the area would lead the party from the front and would surely get people's attention. However, Sudhir Saha, a light weight leader and the sitting TMC councilor won with 1456 votes in ward 32.