West Bengal Municipal Polls: No Surprises as TMC Clean Sweeps Amidst Violence

TMC has swept the Bengal civic polls as the BJP drew a blank. The Left managed to win one municipality.

(Photo: Chetan Bhakuni / The Quint)

As the rather controversial 2022 West Bengal Municipal Elections concluded, the Trinamool Congress is set for yet another landslide victory in the state winning 102 municipalities out of 108. The BJP has failed to open their account while the Left has won one (Taherpur) and the newly formed Humro Party have swept Darjeeling. Four municipalities of Jhalda, Beldanga, Egra and Champdani are hung.

107 municipalities went to polls on 27 February after Trinamool had won the Dinhata municipality uncontested after several reports of intimidation were alleged when the opposition candidates went to file their nomination. In the 107 municipalities, the TMC won 33 municipalities without an elected opposition, one of which includes Diamond Harbour, the parliamentary constituency of AITC national general secretary, Abhishek Banerjee.

The TMC has won 1870 wards out of 2171.

These elections have come in the backdrop of several reported instances of violence, booth rigging, voter intimidation and fake voting across the state.

TMC – The Breacher of Bastions

As the TMC continues its winning ways, dominating the West Bengal election space since the 2021 Assembly elections, they have also been breaching several bastions.

The most noteworthy of them this time around (at least for the TMC) would be the Contai municipality which has been an Adhikari family bastion since the 1970s. This is a place where the leader of opposition Suvendu Adikhari hails from and he was also the chairman of the municipality after his father Sishir Adhikari and his brother Soumendu Adhikari.

In Contai, the TMC won 17 out of 20 wards, with the rest going to the BJP. This will be the first time in close to 30 years that the Contai municipality will not have a single member of the Adhikari family.

The other important bastion that the TMC breached was Bahrampur, the parliamentary constituency of Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury. This had been a Congress bastion for almost 30 years and has been breached by the TMC for the first time.

Other opposition bastions that the TMC breached this time include Balurghat, the parliamentary constituency of state BJP chief Sukanta Majumdar, Kharagpur, the bastion of Dilip Ghosh and Bhatpara, the bastion of BJP MP Arjun Singh. TMC also won the Kaliaganj municipality, a Congress bastion once dominated by the Das Munshis.

In Balurghat, BJP lost the ward in which Sukanta Majumdar presides, while in Contai, they lost the ward where the Adhikari family resides.

A Shrinking Opposition Space

With every TMC clean sweep, the opposition space in Bengal continues to diminish. The BJP had established themselves as a force to reckon with in Bengal post the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and even became the principal opposition after the 2021 Assembly elections.

But what followed was several bouts of infighting, no sense of organization within the state unit, a ‘ghar wapsi’ of several members to the TMC, and thereby a lacklustre campaign in the civic body polls. This had destroyed the confidence of the cadres and their campaigns, or their strategies barely had any momentum. This has been one of the primary reasons behind the BJP’s downfall in Bengal, where they have reached a point of not winning a single municipality.

Out of the eight BJP MLAs who had contested the elections, only two have managed to win. But it must be noted that the BJP has still won more wards than any other opposition party. But they don't have any representation 81 municipalities.

Meanwhile the Left Front has won or rather managed to retain the Taherpur municipality. While this is no concrete sign, it is also another indicator that the Left votes which had been going to the BJP are now coming back.

On the other hand, the newly formed Humro Party swept the Darjeeling municipality winning 18 wards out of 32. The party formed by restaurant owner and social worker Ajoy Edwards, is not aligned with the TMC, CPI-M or the BJP. Anit Thapa’s newly formed Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha won nine while Bimal Gurung’s Gorkha Jamukti Morcha won three. The BJP and the GNLF drew a blank in Darjeeling.

Party chairman Edwards however lost the election.

Independent candidates, most of whom are disgruntled TMC leaders, have won 119 wards, which is more than what the BJP (63), CPIM (47) and the INC (59) have won.

Yet Another Violent Election

In what has become a norm every election in Bengal, this time was no different either. Several reports of violence marred the municipal elections with allegations of booth capturing, rigging, fake voting, voter intimidation and violent clashes were reported from several parts of the state.

Not just opposition cadres, but even journalists reporting on the violence were thrashed too. There were several reported instances caught on camera where miscreants were seen clashing with the local police. Opposition parties also alleged that outsiders were brought in to rig the elections.

This comes amidst the top leadership of the party repeatedly asking for peaceful elections, but all in vain. Opposition leaders have cried foul of the repeated instances of violence and have even called for re-polling across the state.

Two municipalities of Serampore and south Dum Dum saw re-polling in two booths.