Civic poll results show gap between TMC, rest wider than ever

The results are a big boost for the TMC ahead of the civic polls to 108 municipalities on February 27, and stretch its winning spree now to every single election held in the state since it returned to power last year. The BJP, meanwhile, has been continuously going downhill, with the big Assembly defeat hastening defections from it.

The shrinking Opposition is evident from the civic poll victory margins. In the 2021 Assembly polls, the TMC had received 48% of the votes and the BJP 38%. In the seven seats for which elections were held last year, the TMC got 70.2% votes, with at least two candidates winning by more than 1.4 lakh margin. The TMC left other parties even further behind in the Kolkata Municipal Corporation elections, held in December last year, getting 72% votes to the BJP’s 9%.

TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said: “It is clear from this huge mandate that there is no alternative to the TMC in West Bengal. People of the state have put their faith in Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. The BJP’s divisive and communal politics will not work here.”

For the BJP, a bigger worry is that some of the votes it had wrested in the state might be shifting back to the Left. In elections held since the Assembly polls, several of its candidates have failed to retain their deposits. With five of its MLAs moving to the TMC, though not resigning from the party, the BJP’s unofficial strength in the Assembly is 70, down from 77. There is open infighting, especially since the announcement of a new state committee in December, with many voicing displeasure over the way the party was being run by state BJP general secretary (Organisation) Amitava Chakravorty, and temporary expulsion of senior leaders Ritesh Tiwari and Joy Prakash Majumdar for indiscipline.

BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar played down the upheavals as part of the “transition phase” after the formation of the new state committee. “As far as the civic polls are concerned, these were a farce. The true mandate of the people was not reflected. The police and State Election Commission remained mute spectators to the ruling party’s terror and violence.”

Having failed to win a single seat in the Assembly elections in its alliance with the Congress, the Left Front will take some heart from the civic poll results. Its better showing compared to the BJP in the civic polls, including elections to the Kolkata Municipal Corporation, shows that the Left still retains its pockets of influence. The Congress on the other hand is struggling.

Senior CPM leader Sujan Chakraborty said the huge win of the TMC was due to “looting of votes”. “Still, our candidates did better than the BJP.”

State Congress president Adhir Chowdhury conceded the party had “a long way to go”. However, he also accused the police and SEC of remaining “mute spectators”. “People could not exercise their franchise properly.”

Changing vote shares

2019 LS polls

TMC: 43.30%

BJP: 40.70%

Left Front: 6.33%

Cong: 5.67%

2021 Assembly polls

TMC: 48%

BJP: 38%

Cong: 5%

Left Front: 3%

2021 Kolkata Municipal Corporation elections

TMC: 72%

BJP: 9%

Left Front: 12%

Cong: 4%

2022 civic polls to four municipal corporations

TMC:61%

Left Front: 16.75%

BJP: 14.5%

Cong: 3.5%