NOT ONLY is the defeat in the Jhalda municipality to the Congress a big embarrassment for West Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress, it also gives fresh oxygen to the Opposition, ahead of the three-tiered panchayat election in the state. The schedule of the panchayat elections is yet to be announced. It's assumed the polls will take place in March or April 2023. But already, the ruling TMC as well as Opposition parties like the BJP, the CPI(M) and the Congress have started their preparations. In this scenario, the loss in Jhalda has further pushed the TMC, beset by a raft of corruption allegations, on the backfoot. In the civic polls held in February, the Congress and the TMC had both won five seats, while two went to Independents. But in March, Congress councillor Tapan Kundu was shot dead by unidentified assailants, bringing their tally down to four. The TMC formed the board in April with the support of the two Independents. Then, in the bypoll for Ward No. 2, which fell vacant after Tapan’s murder, the Congress won again. The arithmetic changed in the Congress’s favour when the two Independents pledged support to the party. On October 13, the Congress sent a letter signed by the seven councillors seeking a no-confidence motion against the board chairman Suresh Agarwal. On the directions of the Calcutta High Court, a trust vote was scheduled for Monday. When the five TMC councillors did not turn up for the vote, the Congress won and will now form the board within seven days. Despite the palpable embarrassment, the TMC top leadership maintained silence on the issue, though Purulia district TMC president Soumen Belthoria said he had sought a report from the party’s leaders in Jhalda on the development. However, after this win, the opposition camp is happy and is expecting even better results in the panchayat elections. Pradesh Congress president Adhir Chowdhury said, “I congratulate the Congress workers in Jhalda.” He added, "This will encourage Congress workers in Bengal to take on Trinamul in future political battles.” Senior Congress leader and former MLA Nepal Mahato said, “Our councillor Tapan Kundu would have been the chairman if he had not been killed. The TMC forcibly formed the civic board. Surprisingly, the TMC abstained from taking part in the trust vote. This is an indication that they have lost the faith of the people of Jhalda.” CPI(M) state secretary Mohammad Salim said the change of guard in Jhalda was a setback for the TMC. “We stood with the Congress in its battle from the beginning. This is a victory of democracy. Trinamul had murdered a Congress councillor to grab the board,” he said. Earlier this month, in East Midnapore's Nandakumar, the CPI(M) and the BJP had united to defeat the TMC in a co-operative election, as the CPI(M) and Congress also did in a co-operative bank election in Kolaghat. According to a senior TMC leader, "These are bad indications. The school job scam and the recovery of Rs 50 crores from the possession of minister Partha Chatterjee's close aide has tarnished our image. We were further embarrassed by the arrest of Anubrata Mandal in the cattle smuggling case. Now, after seeing these losses, we are realising that the people's support is falling. We have to increase it further, otherwise they will defeat us in some pocket." A CPI(M) leader also said, "The TMC has a huge support base among beneficiaries of state government schemes. Some of this will be eroded by the corruption cases. Then, the TMC won't have the massive lumpen force to rig elections, and the Opposition will be able show their strength, at least in their bases. This will help us get better results."
