Trinamool Congress leads in 80 seats in 144-member Kolkata Municipal Corporation

KOLKATA: The ruling Trinamool Congress was today surging ahead by a massive lead in the civic polls of the state by leading in 80 seats of the 144-member Kolkata Municipal Corporation board and 67 of the 91 municipalities of the state.

Left Front was leading in 13 seats and the Congress and the BJP were leading in 7 seats each of the KMC, according to trends available so far.

Kolkata's Mayor and TMC candidate from ward from 131 Shovan Chattopadhyay, is leading over his nearest CPI(M) rival by a massive lead.

Election to the KMC and the Municipal polls in 91 municipalities in West Bengal, is being billed as the "semi-final" before the Assembly poll scheduled for next year.

Contrary to KMC, trends available for Siliguri Municipal Corporation showed the CPI(M)-led Left Front marching ahead by taking a lead in maximum number of seats.

The counting of votes for the KMC elections held on April 18 and the municipal polls held in 91 municipalities began at 8 AM today.



Of the 91 municipal bodies, the TMC was leading in 67 municipalities, with some of them heading towards an absolute majority.

The election to the 144-member Kolkata Municipal Corporation was being viewed as a litmus test for all the political parties.

For the Trinamool Congress, it was a fight to prove whether it still retained its popularity with urban voters, while for the CPI-M led Left Front it was an opportunity to see if they were able regain lost ground.

For the BJP, aspiring to become a major force in the state after the Lok Sabha election, the civic poll would be a test of its popularity graph while the Congress, which has witnessed desertion in its rank, is trying hard to retain some pockets.