Left scores narrow win in Siliguri

SILIGURI: The Left Front has somehow managed to retain its hold on Siliguri Mahakuma Parishad and the four municipalities where elections were held. Though relieved, Front leaders are concerned about the result that does not speak well of the Left Front in rural Bengal.

Out of the 7 seats in Siliguri Mahakuma Parishad, CPM bagged four seats and Congress 3. A narrow winning margin of 77 votes in Kharibari gave CPM the majority. Without this, the final board result would have been just the opposite, giving Congress an opportunity to form the board for the first time.

Siliguri Mahakuma Parishad, with the same status of a Zilla Parishad, was formed in 1988 during formation of the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council. It governs only the plains area of the district. Since the beginning, for four consecutive terms in '89, '94, '99 and '04, CPM had all the seven seats in its board.

Four out of 16 municipalities in North Bengal had elections. In Malbazar, the CPM wrested the board from the Congress this time while in the other three, the CPM retained Gangarampur and the Congress Islampore and Kaliaganj. Despite having completed their terms, the municipalities of Darjeeling, Kurseong and Kalimpong could not have any election as there was no candidate from any party mainly due to the volatile political situation there over Gorkhaland issue.

However, apparently happy with the results, CPM leader and state Minister Asok Bhattacharya said: "We are happy that even at this hour, we could retain the Siliguri Mahakuma Parishad board. In the three seats we lost, TMC and Congress joined hands with forces like Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) and Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikas Parishad (ABAVP). Otherwise, we could have won there too."

But the statement of the minister indicates a massive erosion in his party's support base in rural and tribal areas, which used to be CPM���s prime strength. After remaining subtle so far, the flow of these section's support from CPIM towards GJM and ABAVP has become clearly visible.