Kolkata, Feb 14 : West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee-led All India Trinamool Congress is headed for a clean sweep in three civic bodies of Bidhannagar, Chandannagar and Asansol and on the verge of wresting power from the Left Front in Siliguri in North Bengal. Notably, former minister and mayor of the last body in Siliguri Municipal and CPI(M) heavyweight Ashok Bhattacharya lost from ward 6 to Trinamool candidate Md Alam by over 300 votes. TMC leader and former state Minister Gautam Deb won convincingly from his ward in Siliguri.
Banerjee has declare that Deb will be the Mayor of Siliguri Municipal Corporation. The TMC is leading in 55 seats and the BJP in one in Asansol Municipal Corporation polls. The Left and the Congress are yet to open their account. Of the 47 seats in Siliguri, trends are available for 25 seats. The TMC is ahead in 20, BJP in 3, Congress and Left in one each. TMC is leading in initial trends in Bidhannagar. TMC has taken lead in 40 out of 41 seats. The Left is leading in one. In Chandannagar, TMC is leading in 21 seats, Left in 3. BJP and Congress are yet to open their accounts.
Altogether four municipal corporations—Bidhannagar, Asansol, Siliguri and Chandannagar – went to the polls on February 12. Altogether, 203 candidates were in the fray in 41 wards in Bidhannagar, while 200 contested in 47 wards of the Siliguri civic body, as per the State Election Commission website. Besides, there were 120 aspirants for 33 wards in Chandannagar and 430 candidates in 106 wards in Asansol. In 2015, Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool had registered a thumping victory from Bidhannagar, Asansol and Chandannagar while Siliguri was won by the Left Front
