Mamata ‘magic’ remains intact
The panchayat results proved that Mamata Banerjee’s magic remains intact. The Trinamul Congress trounced CPI(M)-led Left Front as well as the Congress in rural Bengal, winning 13 of the 17 zila parishads, 215 of the 329 panchayat samitis and 1763 of the 3215 gram panchayats. Zila Parishad is the highest tier of the three-tier panchayat system and the party which forms the zila parishad board rules the districts.
In the last panchayat polls, it was the Left Front which had won 13 of the 17 zila parishads while Trinamul Congress had bagged only two-South 24 Parganas and East Midnapore. This time, Ms Banerjee turned the table by winning 13 zila parishads.
The ruling party’s victory is all the more credible because it came against heavy odds. The Opposition had expected that the wide-spread public anger over the Saradha scam and rising crimes against women and anti-incumbency factor would be reflected in the rural poll results. However, it became clear that Ms Banerjee’s personal charisma overrode all the adversities.
Sweeping through the traditional red bastions, the ruling party won the zilla parishads in Bankura, Purulia, Burdwan, East Midnapore, West Midnapore, South 24 Parganas, North 24 Parganas, Howrah, Hooghly, Birbhum, Nadia, South Dinajpur and Cooch Behar.
The Left Front won only in Jalpaiguri and the Congress only in Murshidabad. Malda and North Dinajpur Zila Parishads were hung. In Malda, Congress bagged 16 out of 38 seats, the Left Front 16 and the Trinamul Congress 6. In North Dinajpur out of 26 seats, the Left Front secured 13, Congress 8 and Trinamul Congress 5. No part could get an absolute majority.
In overall 824 zilla parishad seats, the Trinamul Congress bagged 530, the Left Front 209, Congress 78 and others 5. Coming to 329 panchayat samitis, Trinamul Congress bagged 215, the Left Front 64 and the Congress 20. Independents and others got 28.
In the lowest tier, the gram panchayat, the Trinamul Congress secured 54 per cent seats by winning 1,763 out of 3,215.
Trinamul Congress decimated Left Front from its bastion-Junglemahal. In West Midnapore, it won 64 of the 67 Zila Parishad seats while Left Front won just one. In Purulia, it won 32 of the 38 Zila Parishad seats LF won just two. In Bankura, Trinamul Congress won 41 of the 46 ZP seats.
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