The Hindu : National : Left Front retains control of Haldia Municipality

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Thursday, Jul 26, 2007
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Left Front retains control of Haldia Municipality

Marcus Dam

KOLKATA: The Left Front in West Bengal retained overwhelming control of the Haldia Municipality, elections to which were held on July 22. The elections generated considerable interest across the State in view of the town’s proximity to Nandigram, an area rocked by violence earlier this year that resulted in the jettisoning of a proposal for a chemical hub there.

The Haldia region is being considered as an alternative site for the hub that has assumed a central position in the State’s industrialisation plans. The thrust being given to industrial development had become a focal point in the polls.

Political significance

The civic elections, the results of which were announced on Wednesday, had assumed an added political significance in the wake of the Opposition deciding to put up a combined fight by forging an anti-Left alliance, a move that paid them dividends in the May civic elections in nearby Panskura and was viewed as a precursor for future elections in the State.

Though the Left Front won in 19 out the 26 wards, it failed to repeat its performance of the previous elections when it won all the 25 seats constituting the civic board then.

The fact that the Opposition banded together this time around might explain its winning in seven of the wards. While the Trinamool Congress bagged six, the other went to the Peoples’ Democratic Conference of India affiliated to the Jamait-e-Ulama-Hind and supported by the Trinamool Congress. By denying the Left parties a total sweep of the seats, the Trinamool Congress’s claim of being able to extend its movement against a chemical hub from Nandigram to Haldia seems to have met with only limited success.

“People’s mandate”

While Chief Minister, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee viewed the victory as a mandate of the people, it was termed as a “verdict for industrialisation and development” by Biman Bose, Chairman of the Left Front committee. Veteran Marxist leader, Jyoti Basu, described as a “significant victory.”

The Left’s defeat to a combined Opposition in the seven wards did not indicate any erosion in the people’s support to the Left Front despite the Opposition’s attempts “to stir unrest and foment trouble among the people by questioning the industrial policy of the State,” Mr. Biman Bose said.

The Leader of the Opposition, Partha Chatterjee, attributed the Trinamool Congress’ defeat to a partial administration and the induction of “outsiders” by the Left parties during the polls.

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