Red rout

In Kharagpur municipality,the TMC emerged as the single largest party,having captured 14 seats on its own out a total of 35 wards. The party is in a position to form the board jointly with the Congress. The TMC has succeeded in retaining Ramjibanpur which was won by the party for the first time in 2005. The Left Front has won the Khirpai municipality its only win in the entire West Midnapore district.

Similarly,Bankura is another district where the Trinamool has made major inroads. In Bankura,TMC captured the Bishnupur municipality in a triangular fight with the Congress and the Left Front. The TMC won 16 seats out of 20 in Bishnupur. In the Bankura municipality,however,TMC won 11 seats as it had a pre-poll alliance with the Congress at the local level despite the breakdown of talks at the state level. The board would be formed by the TMC and Congress jointly. In Sonamukhui municipality,CPM and TMC both got six seats. The Left might form the board with the support of Independents.

In Purulia district,the TMC has emerged as the single largest party in Purulia municipality,having captured 11 seats out 22. The TMC and Congress would form the board jointly,having wrested it from the Left. The TMC also emerged as the single largest party in Raghunathpur municipality capturing five seats out of 13. Though the formation of the board is still wide open,the TMC inroad into this new territory is remarkable.

In Burdwan district,TMC has ousted the CPM from Memari municipality,having won 12 seats out of 16. This happens to be the hometown of veteran CPM leader Benoy Konar,central committee member and one of the seniormost leaders of the peasant wing of the CPM. TMC is the single largest party in Kalna municipality having captured seven seats. But the party failed to make inroads in the other four municipalities in Burdwan where it could win only four seats.

In Birbhum,TMC won 24 out of 54 seats in the Bolapur,Suri and Rampurhat municipalities. The CPM could capture only five seats in these three municipalities in comparison. These boards are gong to be formed by the TMC and Congress jointly.

Support of minorities

The Left Fronts last survival tactic in the Kolkata Municipal Corporation elections was to cling to the minority votes. However the voters in the minority areas have humbled the Left Front and come out in support of Trinamool Congress,and,at some places,even the Congress candidate.

The Left Front did not leave any stone unturned to get the support of the minority votes. The decision to be the first in the country to have 10 per cent reservation for minorities in government jobs,based on the Ranganath Mishra Commission,was strategically taken in February,just three months before the Kolkata Municipal Corporation went to polls.

Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjees rallies were strategically organised in the minority-dominated areas of Rajabazar and Tangra,where he tried hard to convince them to vote for the Left. However,the Lefts efforts did not pay dividends. In almost all the minority-dominated areas of Kolkata Garden Reach,Park Circus,Raja Bajar,Kidderpore,Tangra and Zakaria Street,they voted decisively against the Left. Kidderpore was the only exception with the CPM retaining three of the four wards. According to the results of the 33 wards in the seats in minority- dominated areas,the Left Front held sway only in 12 areas like Tangra and Zakaria Street,which have been its stronghold for decades.

According to political observers,minority voters distanced themselves more from the CPM when the Chief Minister urged the BJP voters not to waste their votes and vote for the CPM. The effect of minority votes was also felt in North 24 Parganas where the Left has been reduced to only four municipalities of the 21. The Trinamool Congress will independently form municipal boards at eight municipalities including the minority-dominated Bongaon and Basirhat. The Congress and TMC can form municipal boards at another eight,while one has remained hung. In South 24 Parganas,Trinamool can form the board in one municipality independently and another two with the Congress.

Reservation or no reservation is no issue. If there is a wave against the the government,both majority and minority have voted against the Left, said A S Malihawadi,a member of Rajya Sabha nominated by the Left Front and the editor of Azad Hind Urdu daily in Kolkata. It cannot be said that the state government has not done anything for minority communities,but economically they have been deprived,which has been reflected in the Sachar Committee report. This is the reason for the anger, he added.

Left hit in industrial belts

The municipalities of South Bengal representing the industrial belts of Hooghly and North 24 Parganas have clearly given their mandate to the Trinamool Congress. Of the 21 municipalities in North 24 Parganas,the highest among the districts in the state,the Trinamool can form the board on its own in eight municipalities,while it can form the board with the Congress in one. The Left Front has been left with only four municipalities.

The significant industrial belts of Kharda,Baranagar,Barrackpore,Bhatpara and Naihati have been won by Trinamool where the party is independently going to form the board. These municipalities have a number of jute mills and small iron and steel plants,chemical plants and cable plants.

The win in the industrial belts signifies that people do not consider Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee as anti-industrialisation. Twenty of the 21 municipalities had been under the CPMs control earlier.

The four municipalities which the CPM has managed to retain are in the rural belts,while it has been completely uprooted from its stronghold in the industrial belts. Even in the significantly urban-dominated Salt Lake municipality,the Trinamool got a clear cut margin,winning 16 of the 25 wards.

Similarly,in the case of the other promising industrial belt of Hooghly,the Trinamool has completely routed the Left Front. The CPM has lost control over 11 of the 12 municipalities. While in six municipalities,the TMC can form the board independently,the Trinamool and Congress combine can form the board in another five.

Only in the CPM stronghold of Arambag,has the party has been able to retain the seat. During the last municipal polls,the CPM had eight municipalities and TMC had four.

During the Singur episode,the CPM had tried to paint Mamata and Trinamool Congress as anti-industry. But the results have shown that people are not ready to buy this logic, said Snehasish Chakraborty,the president of TMC youth wing of the district.