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Calcutta returns a hung municipal corporation

Rifat Jawaid in Calcutta

With the results of all 141 seats of the Calcutta Municipal Corporation election having been declared, no political party has got a majority in the House. While the Left Front has won 62 seats, Trinamul Congress candidates have emerged victorious in 64, the Bharatiya Janata Party in three and Congress in 12.

The results are seen as a setback for the Left Front, which has failed to retain the corporation. In the last CMC election, it had won 70 seats, while 69 had gone to the Congress.

The results have also surprised the Congress, which was hoping to bag the anti-Left votes following the rumblings of discontent in the Trinamul Congress.

Earlier in the day, the Communist Party of India, Marxist, won the Salt Lake Municipality by a wafer-thin margin. But the Marxists' victory there too came under a cloud after the Opposition questioned the result in one ward, where the electronic voting machines were reportedly infected by a virus.

Trinamul Congress chief Mamata Banerjee was euphoric about the results. Emerging from the party office at Nizam Place in South Calcutta, she was dripping sarcasm as she told the waiting media, "Aar ki bolar aachey, CPM to CMC paye gechey (What else should I say? The CPI-M has won the CMC!) You come to my residence, I will speak to you people in detail."

Despite having failed to get a majority with her ally the BJP, Banerjee is quite optimistic of taking control of the corporation for the first time. Her optimism stems from the Congress leadership's assurance of support to the Trinamul Congress in case it emerged as the single largest party in the civic elections.

Speaking to reporters yesterday, West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee vice-president Saugata Roy had said that his party's prime objective was to keep the CPI-M out of the CMC. "At the same time, we will ensure that the BJP doesn't become part of a new-look Calcutta Corporation. We haven't discussed anything yet. Our leaders will sit together tonight to explore the possibilities," Roy told rediff.com

Today's results witnessed the defeat of outgoing CMC mayor Prashanta Chatterjee who lost by more than 2,000 votes. The Trinamul's mayoral candidate, Subrata Mukherjee, sailed through, defeating Congressman Narendra Mohan Chatterjee by 1,686 votes.

Mukherjee's victory assumes significance because many senior Trinamul politicians, including Pankaj Banerjee and Sovandeb Chattopaddhyay, had voiced their resentment at his nomination as mayoral candidate.

A visibly happy Mukherjee told rediff.com, "Trinamul's victory in the CMC is indicative of the fact that all anti-Left votes have polarised in favour of the Trinamul Congress. It also proves that people have overwhelmingly approved Mamata'a call for a change."

Hectic political parleys have begun in Calcutta. The WBPCC has called for an urgent meeting tonight to pronounce its decision on whether to support a Trinamul-led municipal corporation. Analysts fear that the CPI-M's defeat may trigger a fresh wave of post-election violence in Calcutta.

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