Statesman News Service
MALDA, 1 JULY: The BJP surprisingly captured Ward no 11 of English Bazaar civic body in the municipal by-polls, defeating its nearest CPI-M candidate. This seat was under the control of the Congress.
The BJP candidate, Mr Sanjay Dey, secured 1,497 votes. The CPI-M candidate Mr Dilip Choudhury bagged 1,376 votes, while the Congress candidate Mr Atul Singh obtained only 733 votes.
Biswanath Guho, the Intuc district president, who was murdered a year ago, was elected last year in the municipal by-polls with a huge margin of votes from Ward no 11. The South Malda MP, Mr AH Khan Choudhury, meanwhile, had got a 767 leading margin in terms of votes from Ward no 11 in the parliamentary election.
A section of district Congress leaders blamed the Congress leadership of Malda town for selecting Mr Atul Singh as a candidate. Mr Singh had been the councillor of English Bazaar in the period from 1981 to 1990 belonging to the CPI-M. He had left the party and joined the Congress after 1990s.
At least 15 candidates, including two relatives of Biswanath Guho, had submitted applications seeking a ticket. But the Congress leadership nominated Mr Singh, rejecting other applicants, including the daughter of Guho.
As a result, an Independent candidate, a follower of Biswanth Guho, decided to contest and obtained 59 votes. Voters belonging to the anti-Left camp did not accept the Congress candidate when the Congress leadership refused to accept other suitable candidate for this seat. Even in a Congress-dominated Muslim pocket zone ~ Bakshatuli ~ in Ward no 11 the CPI-M candidate bagged the highest votes, while the BJP candidate Mr Sanjay Dey came in second. The overall by-poll results in English Bazaar Municipality are: LF have 11 seats, the Congress and Trinamul Congress have 12 seats and the BJP has two. The Congress and Trinamul Congress-led board is now depending more on the BJP councillors.
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