TMC, BJP line up candidates for West Bengal civic polls; CPM lags behind

KOLKATA: Trinamool Congress and BJP are well ahead of the CPM as far as preparations for October 3 civic polls in Bengal are concerned. Both the parties have released their list of candidates who will be contesting Asansol Municipal Corporation (AMC) elections on October 3.

Trinamool Congress has also released its list of candidates for the Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections and BJP is likely to release its list for the BMC polls within a day or two.

But the CPM is yet to announce its candidate lists for both the municipal corporation elections. Elections to these two municipal corporations and Siliguri Mahakuma Parishad (SMP) and by-elections to some municipal wards under Bally Municipality which has been merged with the Howrah Municipal Corporation are being viewed as an acid test for both the ruling Trinamool Congress and opposition CPM and BJP before next year's assembly polls in Bengal.

BJP is expecting to fare well in Asansol because the Lok Sabha was won by Babool Surpiyo last year. Babool pays frequent visits to his constituency and has played a major role in selecting candidates for 106 municipal wards under the AMC. BJP's performance in AMC is therefore, very crucial for Babool's political future.

Trinamool Congress is expecting to retain BMC this time too even though the Rajarhat Gopalpur Municipality has been merged with it recently. Trinamool had managed to convince the chairman of Rajarhat-Gopalpur Municipality and a CPM leader Tapas Chatterjee to quit the CPM to join them. Chatterjee is contesting the BMC polls this time as a Trinamool Congress candidate. The ruling party is banking on him to defeat the CPM at the BMC polls.

The CPM, on the other hand, has taken all possible measures to ensure defeat of Chatterjee. Party's central committee member and secretary of the CPM's North 24-Parganas district unit, Guotam Deb has already announced that they will ensure Chatterjee's defeat at any cost.