By IANS,
Kolkata : After registering a victory in the municipal polls, West Bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) Monday asserted it was ready to fight the 2014 general elections on its own.
The TMC won four of the five civic bodies that went to polls.
“Whenever Trinamool has fought alone, we have triumphed and when it has formed an alliance, our ally has reaped the benefits. Today’s results show TMC is not only prepared to fight on its own but it is capable of fighting alone,” party national general secretary Mukul Roy told mediapersons here.
While the TMC forged an alliance with the Congress for the 2009 general and 2011 assembly polls, it fought the panchayat and the municipal polls on its own.
While party supremo and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has called all regional parties to unite against the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the TMC has been asserting it will play the “kingmaker’s” role in the next elections.
“The polls (and by-polls) were held across the state, from Siliguri to Murshidabad to Howrah and other places. The polls, being the last before the next Lok Sabha elections, assume importance as people from across the state have reposed their faith in Mamata Banerjee and her welfare agenda,” said Roy.
He exuded confidence of doing well in Behrampore as well as Murshidabad – the bastion of Congress strongman and central minister Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury.
“We have made a start (by winning two of 28 seats in Behrampore). The vote share of the party has increased from 2.8 percent (in 2008) to 29 percent here (Behrampore). We hope to excel in the coming years in Behrampore and Murshidabad,” he said while attributing the Banerjee regime’s developmental work for the people reposing their faith in the TMC.
While the Trinamool won 22 of the 24 seats in Krishnagar (Nadia district), it snatched Jhargram (West Midnapore) from the Left Front and retained Midnapore.
With Trinamool winning 42 out of 47 seats declared in Howrah Municipal Corporation, Roy refused to read much into BJP winning a seat and accused it of having a tacit alliance with the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M).
“BJP winning a seat in Howrah is not significant because we have proved earlier that in Howrah, CPI-M and BJP have a tacit understanding and it doesn’t matter whether the BJP or the CPI-M wins a seat,” added Roy.
The party will also hold a rally to celebrate the electoral victory on “Maa, Mati, Manush Divas” at the Brigade Parade Ground here Jan 30.