If the present political trend and the equation seen ahead of the rural polls is anything to go by, the ruling Trinamul Congress is likely to face a good challenge when it comes to retaining the English Bazaar block in the district.

According to political observers, though the TMC had a comprehensive lead at the panchayat level here last time, some massive swings in the political scenario here is likely to see the party witnessing a neck and neck fight with the opposition parties.

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“The party could very well also be in a disadvantageous position,” an observer said. Two main issues are going to play important roles in the upcoming rural election. Firstly, almost all the opposition parties like the Congress, CPI-M and the BJP have committed voters in the rural belt of the block just around the municipality areas, but the TMC is suffering from factionalism.

Secondly, the aftereffects of the 2015 assembly elections, after which independent MLA Nihar Ranjan Ghosh who had won with the support of both the Congress and the CPI-M later switched to the TMC, is likely to affect his chances here as, observers feel voters and supporters of his erstwhile parties that helped him win back then will give him a run for his money this time around.

The block president of the TMC, Kalyan Mandal, however, refused to mix up the equations of the assembly and the rural polls, and according to him, “things are different altogether.” “We have a strong organization here and we will prove to be the number one in the block,” Mr Mandal said.

On the other hand, Mottakin Alam, the rural block president and MLA from Manikchak, said, “Last time, the TMC hijacked winning candidates of the opposition and took over the panchayat samity. However, the Congress was the leader in the true sense of the term. This time, the situation is different and people are ready to give a befitting reply to the politics of bribing and showing fear to the winners of other parties. A fair election is necessary.”

It may be noted here that the TMC is in control of all the panchayats at the block, except for one. The party has however won two of the three Zilla Parishad seats and has taken the third one by roping in the winning candidate from the CPI-M.