After accusations that it used muscle power to keep opposition parties away from the nomination-filing process, the ruling Trinamul Congress is all set to register ‘uncontested’ wins in several Gram Panchayats (GP) in the rural elections, thanks to the failure of other parties in filing their candidates’ nomination papers.

In Malda, the party is set to win two Gram Panchayats in Kaliachak Block-I. There is also no single opposition candidate in six seats of the two Panchayat Samitys in those areas, it is learnt.

Congress MLA from the area, Isha Khan Coudhury, alleged that Congress activists were threatened by “goons associated with the TMC.” “This act stopped opposition parties from filing nominations. We have filed a written complaint with the Election Commission over the matter,” the MLA said.

According to sources, there are 23 seats in the Nouda Jadupur and 14 in the Mojampur GPs, where only TMC candidates filed their nominations. The six seats in the panchayat samitys–three each in Nouda Jadupur and Mojampur–met the same fate.

Working secretary of the TMC in the area, Mojahar Hossain, however, said: “What can we do if someone does not file nominations?” In Alipurduar district, the ruiling party is set to win three of the 188 panchayat samity seats and 30 of the 999 GP seats uncontested, adminstrative sources said.

According to administration officials, the TMC has won two panchayat samity seats in Alipurduar block-1 and one in the Birpara-Madarihat block. It also has no opposition in 14 GP seats in the Birpara Madarihat block.

There are also no opposition candidates in 14 GP seats in Alipurduar block-1 and two under the Kalchini block. “TMC-backed goons beat us and then threatened our candidates with dire consequences.

As a result we could not file our nominations. Such unfair moves will not last long,” BJP leader and MLA of Madarihat, Manoj Tigga, said. Alipurduar district president of the Trinamul Congress, Mohan Sharma, however, said that the allegations were not right.

“The opposition candidates filed nominations almost in all the seats in the district. They failed to submit their nominations for seats where they dont have their partymen,” he claimed.

In South Dinajpur, the ruling party is set to win 34 GP and five panchayat samity seats uncontested so far, while the numbers may go up after the final scrutiny and after the nomination withdrawal process.

Most of the uncontested seats in the district are in Jahangirpur, Nandanpur and Sukhdevpur areas, while in the rest of the panchayats– Ashokgram, Basuria, Belbari- 1 and 2, Chaloon, Damdama, Gangarampur and Uday–the opposition parties somehow managed to file their nominations, sources said.

“There are 11 seats for the panchayat samity in Gangarampur. The TMC has already won five without contesting, and surprisingly, 1058 TMC candidates have filed nominations for 975 seats in the district,” said a political analyst of South Dinajpur, Swapan Kumar Sarkar.

The district president of the BJP, Subendu Srakar, said, “We could not file our nominations in Gangarampur. However, in other blocks, the TMC has to fight us and our workers are active in every booth and this will reflect in the results.”

South Dinajpur president of the TMC, Biplab Mitra, however, said: “In Gangarampur, the Oppositions have no base at all and they are trying to shift the focus of the voters. If our workers stopped them from filing nominations, then how is it possible for them file their papers in almost all the seats?” In North Dinajpur, the BJP has decided to fight with 38 candidates, TMC with 32, CPI-M with 20 and INC, BSP, IFB, and RSP with 23, 5, 3, 3 candidates, respectively, while there are 21 Independent candidates too.

A total of 1291 candidates from all the parties have filed their nominations for the 287 panchayat samity seats in the district. According to sources, the TMC has filed 454 papers, while the BJP, CPI-M, INC, AIFB, RSP, IND, BSP, CPI, and others have filed nominations in 271, 169, 132, 31, 9, 191, 10 and two seats, respectively, for the panchayat samity seats. Meanwhile, in the 1649 gram panchayat seats, 5682 candidates have filed their nomination papers.