The Trinamool Congress on Tuesday won in 134 out of the 144 wards in the Kolkata Municipal Corporation polls, reported The Indian Express, citing election officials. Voting for the civic body took place on Sunday.
The Bharatiya Janata Party won in three wards, while the Left parties and the Congress won two wards each. Independent candidates won in three wards. However, all three of them have said that they would join the Trinamool Congress, the Hindustan Times reported.
The BJP, which had finished second in terms of seats and vote share in the Assembly elections held earlier this year, faced major losses in the civic polls. The party’s vote share of 8.94% in the civic body polls was 6% fewer than what it had secured in the last Kolkata Municipal Corporation elections held in 2015, according to The Indian Express.
Meanwhile, the Left parties, which had failed to win a single seat in the Assembly polls, improved its performance by garnering 11.13% of the votes in the civic body elections, the second highest after the Trinamool Congress.
The Left parties came second in 65 wards. The BJP finished in the second spot in 48 wards.
The BJP state unit chief, Sukanta Majumdar, claimed that the reemergence of the Left parties was part of the Trinamool Congress’ ploy to divide Opposition votes, PTI reported.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that her party’s victory in the polls was a “clear message” that the Left parties and the BJP had no presence in the state, ANI reported. However, she has not announced who would become Kolkata’s next mayor.
Sitting mayor and state minister Firhad Hakim said that a decision on the matter will be taken at a party meeting on December 23.
Some incidents of violence were reported during voting on Sunday. Three people were injured after bombs were hurled at a polling station. The attack happened in front of Taki School in ward number 36.
A police officer had said that one of the injured persons had lost a leg and the others were undergoing treatment at a hospital. As many as 72 accused persons had been arrested for disturbing law and order situation during the polls.
The other incident of hurling bombs took place in Khanna area of the city. However, no one was injured there.
The BJP and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) had alleged that the Trinamool Congress’ workers was forcibly stopping booth agents from entering polling centres in several wards. The ruling party in the state, however, had described these allegations as baseless.
In the last civic body elections held in 2015, the Trinamool Congress had bagged 124 seats and the Left parties secured 13, according to PTI. The Congress had won in five wards and the BJP in two.
Controversy ahead of the polls
In the run-up to the election, the BJP had filed a petition in the Supreme Court demanding that Central Armed Police Force personnel be deployed during the elections. The Supreme Court, however, had refused to entertain the plea and told the party to approach the Calcutta High Court.
Following this, the BJP moved the Supreme Court again after the Calcutta High Court also rejected its plea for deploying Central Armed Police Force personnel during the civic body elections.
The BJP had also filed a petition to stay the civic body polls. However, on Wednesday, the Calcutta High Court had refused to stop the elections.
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