Left Regaining Significance In Bengal's Electoral Scenario, Claims CPI(M)

After the Left Front managed to win one municipality out of 107 civic bodies in West Bengal "despite widespread rigging" in the elections, senior CPI(M) leader Sujan Chakraborty on Wednesday asserted that the Left parties are making a comeback in the state. Chakraborty claimed that the BJP's vote share is receding in the state where it had made significant gains since the 2018 panchayat polls. "The Left parties, which had become almost insignificant in the electoral scenario of the state, are regaining significance," he told reporters. Neither Parliament nor the state assembly now has any member from the Left parties.

The Left Front secured Taherpur Municipality in Nadia district. More than 100 of the civic bodies were won by the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress. The BJP did not win any municipality. "That the Left parties are making a comeback in the state despite widespread rigging is evident from the results as in places where people could exercise their franchise we got a fair share of the votes polled," Chakraborty said. Alleging electoral malpractices by the ruling dispensation in the municipal elections held on February 27, he claimed that in some places, even TMC candidates or their relatives found their votes had been cast before they reached their booths. "A TMC candidate in Kamarhati Municipality and the daughter of another candidate in North Dum Dum (Municipality) could not cast their votes," the former Lok Sabha MP said. Alleging that the ruling party supporters indulged in false voting, the CPI(M) leader claimed that this shows that the TMC is losing the faith of people "as they were not allowed to exercise their franchise in many places."

PTI Inputs