Kolkata, July 01: The Congress-Trinamool Congress alliance in West Bengal continued its victory march and crushed the ruling Left Front (LF) in the urban civic body polls Wednesday.
Out of the 16 municipalities which went to the hustings Sunday, the opposition won in 13 while the LF triumphed in only three civic bodies.
“People of the state have reposed their faith in the Congress-Trinamool Congress alliance. The civic body poll result has once again proved that people do not want this Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M)-led LF government in West Bengal,” Partha Chattopadhayay of Trinamool Congress, leader of opposition in the assembly, told a press conference here.
Dedicating the victory to the common people, he said: “This state government has no moral right to remain in power.”
Chattopadhyay also urged all party workers not to take out any victory rally and not to indulge in any kind of violence.
The opposition snatched six civic bodies in the south Bengal districts of North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas and Howrah, in a virtual replay of the parliamentary elections, with their votes increasing in several wards.
The opposition alliance also secured a good number of votes in several rural bodies that went to polls Sunday.
So far, the LF controlled 11 of the 16 municipalities in the 10 districts. The Congress was in power in three municipalities, while Trinamool ruled only in one.
The LF, however, managed to retain the Rajarhat-Gopalpur municipality in North 24 Parganas, the combine’s sole success in south Bengal.
In the northern part of the state, the Mal municipality of Jalpaiguri district and Gangarampur municipality in South Dinajpur district provided the silver lining for the beleaguered LF.
The LF could only snatch the Mal municipality from the Congress.
–Agencies