Cracks appear within TMC over selection of candidates ahead of Bengal civic polls

Cracks have started to appear at the grassroot level of the ruling Trinamool Congress in West Bengal ever since the party announced the names of candidates for the upcoming civic polls later this month.

The TMC on Friday released a list of candidates for elections to 108 municipalities. On Thursday the state election commission had announced that civic elections would be held on February 27.

Massive protests erupted at many municipalities across the state with TMC workers burning tyres and blocking roads while demanding that the names of candidates be changed. At least two senior TMC leaders, including a minister, have voiced their grievances over the selection of candidates while alleging that even local Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders were given tickets.

“I was really shocked. We had proposed a few names (from Contai in East Midnapore) to the party’s high command. But when the list was revealed we found that it contained names of one or two leaders who were associated with the BJP,” said Akhil Giri, state fisheries minister.

Similar allegations were also made by Krishnendu Narayan Chowdhury, TMC’s state general secretary and former English Bazar Municipality chairman in Malda. He was denied a ticket.

Protests erupted at Khardah, Barrackpore, Ashiknagar, Mal, Bankura, Cooch Behar, Berhampore, Sonarpur, Contai, Egra, Kamarhati, Burdwan, Barasat, Halisahar, Malda, Maheshtala and Kalna among others.

“I am not the authority to decide the names. But it is a fact that there are some TMC leaders whose names were dropped at the last minute. They had worked very hard over the years and had even started campaigning. I will try to speak to Mamata Banerjee,” said Madan Mitra, TMC MLA and former minister.

At Sonarpur in South 24 Parganas, Ranjit Roy, the town president alleged that he was never consulted before the local MLA Lovely Maitra proposed a set of names to the party’s higher ups. Maitra, however, denied the charges and said that she took the opinion of almost every local leader.

The TMC has fielded Md. Mainuddin from ward 15 of Dhuliyan in Murshidabad district. But a section of the TMC workers weren’t ready to accept him. On Friday evening and on Saturday morning hundreds of TMC supporters burnt tyres and tarpaulin demanding that tickets be given either to Farah Khatun or Amirul Sheikh.

In Cooch Behar the party fielded Tapan Acharya from ward number 4 of the civic body. TMC workers, however, demanded that he be replaced with any other name.

At Bankura protests erupted after the name of Ananya Roy Chakraborty, the outgoing councillor of ward 18, was dropped.

“Those who were not given tickets will naturally feel disheartened. But everyone can’t get tickets. When the party has given a ticket to a candidate others must support him and ensure his victory. One must not engage in any act which could tarnish the image of the party,” said Partha Chatterjee, state minister and TMC’s state general secretary.

Similar protests had rocked the BJP in March 2021 ahead of the West Bengal assembly elections when the party had announced the names of candidates. The BJP list included names of some TMC leaders, who had recently sided with the BJP ahead of the assembly polls. A few hundred BJP workers had staged a protest outside the party’s state headquarters in Kolkata. There were also protests in multiple constituencies across Bengal including Howrah, Hooghly, South 24 Parganas and Cooch Behar districts. Police had to resort to lathi-charge in some places.

On Saturday, after fissures cropped up within the TMC’s grassroot workers, the BJP took a dig at the ruling TMC.

“TMC is a place to earn money. So, when a candidate is denied a ticket, naturally he will get angry. Because he knows that once he wins, he can control the police and earn money,” said Dilip Ghosh, national vice president of BJP.