By IANS,
New Delhi : The Communist Party of India (CPI) Wednesday said the civic polls results in West Bengal were “disappointing” and reflected the “alienation” of the Left Front in the state, where it has been in power for more than three decades.
“We will have to accept the people’s verdict. The result shows that the Left Front is more alienated in the state. It is disappointing,” said CPI deputy general secretary Suravaram Sudhakar Reddy here.
He said the Left should review the election results thoroughly and find out “why a large number of its traditional supporters opposing it”.
He criticised Trinamool Congress chief and Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee for her “misleading” statement ahead of the polls that the derailment of the Gyaneshwari Express near Jhargram in Midnapore district was a political conspiracy against her.
“It was a lie. But that lie helped her to create confusion among the supporters of the Left Front government. It shows that what extent she can go to defeat the Left Front,” Reddy told IANS.
The Trinamool Congress wrested control of the prestigious Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) in an electoral sweep of the civic polls that saw it humble West Bengal’s ruling Left Front across the state.
The state’s urban voters gave the thumbs down to the Left, which suffered a humiliating defeat although the major opposition parties, the Trinamool Congress and the Congress, failed to come to an electoral understanding.
Trinamool candidates won 95, or more than two thirds of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation’s 141 wards. The Left bagged 33 seats, the Congress 10 and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) three. The Left has controlled the KMC since 2005.
In the districts, the Trinamool bagged 25 municipalities while the Left saw success at 17 places. The Congress won control of seven bodies.
But there were no clear winners in the remaining 30 municipalities, where the Trinamool would need Congress help to take power.