PANCHAYAT ELECTION

Cong hopeful in Cooch Behar to pull down the CPM from power

 

COOCH BEHAR, April 30: Congress is hopeful about a good performance in Cooch Behar district in the three-tier panchayat elections. They are even hopeful about getting seven out of twenty-nine Zilla Parishad seats.

 

Congress has 166 Gram Panchayat seats and 27 Panchayat Samiti seats in Cooch Behar district. Nine Gram Panchayats are under their control. Three to four times increase may happen this time, they believe. And, to encourage the Congress workers heavyweight leaders like Mr Priya Ranjan Das Munsi, Mr Subrata Mukherjee, Mr Somen Mitra and Dr Manas Bhuiyan are to come for campaigning.

 

President of Cooch Behar District Congress, Mr Shyamal Choudhury pointed out that the CPI-M is not in a good position. They got no seat uncontested in the three tiers – Gram Panchayat, Panchayat Samiti and Zilla Parishad. 1:1 fight will be held in 488 GP seats and 94 PS seats. In this perspective it is clear that the CPI-M will have to face tough time to retain its seats. "We shall snatch many seats from the CPI-M", he said.

 

Mr Choudhury believes that the people are turning their faces from the CPI-M and so it may be difficult for the CPI-M to win in the seats they are contesting. The Left Front partners like the Forward Bloc, The CPI and the RSP too fielded candidates against the CPI-M candidates. The total number of Left Front candidates is much more than the total seats. On the otherhand, the total number of Congress and Trinamul Congress is within the limit compared to the total seats, he mentioned.

 

The Congress leader admitted that Mahajots (grand alliances) came up at local levels without asking for approvals from district leaderships of the concerned parties. Aggrieved rural people formed such Mahajots to evict out the CPI-M from power. The BJP, the Trinamul Congress and even the leftists too joined in the Mahajots. In this background the Congress candidates have prospects at Cooch Behar-I, Cooch Behar-II, Dinhata-I, Sitai, Haldibari and Mekhliganj, he observed.

 

During poll campaign the Congress is pointing its spearhead to the ruling party for its failure in implementing the NREGA scheme transparently. Mr Choudhury alleged that funds allotted by the Centre are being returned unused. The villagers are yet to know what they can get from Central schemes. Corruption in NREGA schemes, Indira Awas Yojana and other developmental programmes is increasing. Fifty percent of the villages are yet to get power connection. Twelve-hour power cut is also a daily affair in the rural area. Congress is highlighting these in campaigns, he said.

 

Mr Choudhury alleged that the CPI-M is trying to get votes by terrorising voters. Already a Congress candidate was murdered. Political atrocity is a daily affair in areas like Mansai, Nakkatigachh, Chandamari, Putimari and Patchhara. But this time the voters are not in a mood to obey the dictat of the ruling party, he opined. []

 

PHOTO : Cooch Behar district Congress president Mr Shyamal Choudhury. - DB