Despite being way ahead of the opposition parties in most parts of West Bengal as per the counting trends for the panchayat polls on Tuesday, the ruling Trinamul Congress received a major jolt at Nandigram in East Midnapore district, which is considered a stronghold of Suvendu Adhikari, the leader of opposition in the state Assembly.
Adhikari is also the BJP MLA from Nandigram, where he defeated chief minister Mamata Banerje by a margin of 1,956 votes in the 2021 Assembly elections. In the panchayat polls, BJP’s performance has been significant in the village panchayat areas of Boyal-I, BoyalII, Khodambari-I and Khodambari-II under Nandigram-II block. Of the total 61 gram panchayat seats there, BJP candidates have either won or are ahead in 37 seats, followed by Trinamul nominees at 23 and one Independent candidate.
In Boyal-I, BJP candidates have won or are ahead in eight out of the 13 seats, pushing Trinamul back with five seats. In Boyal-II, nine seats are in favour of BJP, while TMC has six and one went in favour of an Independent candidate. In Khodambari-I, BJP won eight out of 15 seats, followed by Trinamul at seven. In Khodambari-II, 12 out of the 17 seats are in favour of BJP, followed by Trinamul at five.
Adhikari said that the results in Nandigram reflect the fact that people have rejected the Trinamul wherever they could resist the ruling party’s ‘hooligans’ and cast their votes. “Had this picture in Nandigram been reflected in the entire state, Trinamul would have turned minorities in most districts.
But our fight against the ruling party will continue,” Adhikari said, adding, “In the poll-related deaths in the state, most of them are from the minority community. They will have to take a call if they want this or fight against this regime.”