HVK Archives: BJP gain in Durgapur municipal elections surprises experts
BJP gain in Durgapur municipal elections surprises experts - The Observer
Sankar Ray
()
29 May 1997
Title: BJP gain in Durgapur municipal elections surprises experts
Author : Sankar Ray
Publication : The Observer
Date : May 29, 1997
Bharatiya Janata Party springs a surprise by sharp rise in voting
percentage in Durgapur. Stupefying many poll pundits-psephologists
in India. The BJP's polling percentage in the Durgapur municipal
election went up from 6 to 15.55 between 1996 assembly election and
Civic poll in Durgapur on May 25.
Durgapur is mainly a working class-belt and hence the impressive
gain is qualitatively a shot in the arm for the Sangh Parivar.
The Bharatiya Janata Party got only one out of 43 seats while the
Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Communist Party of India
got 33 and two seats respectively in Durgapur.
The Congress got only six, mainly due to wean-away of decisive
votes in atleast nine seats.
True, the politics of Hindutva has not been able to make any impact
in West Bengal but there is little room for complacency for the
Left Front and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) is
particular.
Nonetheless the comparatively young and dominant section of the
Communist Party of India (Marxist) in West Bengal seems to be
conceited and complacent.
Communist Party of India (Marxist)'s Central committee and West
Bengal State Secretariat member Anil Biswas said that BJP will not
grow in West Bengal as the tirade against communalism has been a
its tradition.
Although, BJP got only one out of 79 seats in different local-self
Government bodies including three bye-elections in the Calcutta
municipal corporation, the vertical increase of BJP votes in the
steel town should raise alarm.
Interestingly, the party has the largest single base in Jamshedpur,
another steel town. National council member and West Bengal State
Council secretary of CPI Mr Manju Majumdar, said that "the BJP may
gain some strength in this State, thanks to the Congress whose
disaster is a shot in the arm for the BJP".
The BJP MP Uma Bharati was in town on the day of polling. "The
people of West Bengal are right in one sense if they have voted for
the Congress as we are yet to offer an alternative to the CPM or
the Left. I do not say that we shall get an MP or an MLA in the
next poll from West Bengal although we look forward to such an
eventuality", she stated but the feuds and wrangling in the
Congress are a been to the left front, specially the CPI(M)
otherwise, in ward no 51 in which won Congress candidate Utpal Saha
won by over 2000 votes in 1995 defeating a heavyweight of the
revolutionary socialist party Ganesh Dhar, a noted social worker,
the party would not have lost to an unknown RSP candidate Narayan
Ojha.
The by-election took place due to sudden demise of Mr Saha
interestingly, the new general secretary of the Indian National
Trade Union Congress Subrata Mookerjee, a vice-president of the
West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee and an MLA, blamed the WBPCC
president Somen Mitra for the defeat in ward no 51 Mr Mitra,
extremely busy in edging out his rival Mamata Banerjee instead of
setting up the organisational structure for the Congress candidate
Ashok Banerjee to address any election meeting.
Banerjee lost by one 174 votes and alleged that extensive bogus to
voting took place due to inability of the Congress to appoint
adequate number of workers in polling booths.
Interesting experience of the civic polls - including ten
buy-elections is the defeat off in the newly created coopers cam
municipality in which the congress got ten our of 12 seats,
contrary to the empirioal observation that the LF normally wins in
newly created civic bodies this empiricism found its validity in
Haldia municipality on which the CPM and CPI won 18 and two seats.
Communist Party of India (Marxist) leaders Biman Bose a CC and
State Secretariat member has blamed the Communist Party of India
for the poor result in coopers.
He referred to the charged made by the Naida district committee of
Communist Party of India (Marxist). Putting up of dummy candidates
affected the LF badly, the district leader said.
Shooting back to this allegation, a Communist Party of India state
secretariat member told this correspondent that "we certainly are
concerned about the dummy candidates that sabotaged our chances in
atleast one or two seats.
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