Jhalda municipality: Congress to form civic board as 5 Trinamool councillors ‘stay away’ from trust vote

Senior Congress leader and former MLA Nepal Mahato said, “Our councillor Tapan Kandu would have been the chairman had he not been killed. The TMC forcibly formed the civic board. Surprisingly, the TMC abstained from taking part in trust vote. This is an indication that they have lost the faith of the people of Jhalda.”
State Congress president Adhir Chowdhury said, “I congratulate the Congress leaders and workers in Jhalda…”

After the civic polls earlier this year, the Congress and TMC won five seats each while two seats went to Independent candidates. However, on March 13, Congress councillor Tapan Kandu was shot dead by unidentified assailants that brought down the Congress tally to 4.

The TMC with the support one Independent formed the civic board. Later in a bypoll, Congress retained the seat left vacant by Tapan Kandu. After the Independent candidate withdrew its support from the TMC, the party’s tally came down to five. The Congress then brought a no-confidence motion against the chairman and moved Calcutta High Court in this regard. The court had ordered that trust vote be held to find out which party has the upper hand.

“The Congress was always ahead in forming the board. The ruling TMC, using force and intimidation, formed the civic board. But Monday’s development comes as poetic justice to my late husband,” said Purnima Kandu, wife of Tapan Kandu.

Senior TMC leader Firhad Hakim said, “They [Congress] have just won the trust vote. We have sought a detailed report from the district leadership.”