Mukul Roy says TMC can fight elections alone, Cong wishes them well

Buoyed with its success in the municipal election in West Bengal, the Trinamool Congress today said the poll results have demonstrated that the party has enough strength to rule the state alone. The TMC won four of the six municipalities in which elections were held. “It has been proved by the results of these elections that the Trinamool Congress has enough strength to rule Bengal alone,” the party all-India general secretary Mukul Roy told a press conference, shortly after the results were made public. [caption id=“attachment_332972” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Mamata Banerjee and Mukul Roy. PTI”] [/caption] Though allies in the central and state governments, Trinamool and Congress contested the civic elections separately. “It has been established that in Bengal, Trinamool can fight and win elections alone. We fought against CPI(M), Congress, BJP and the Maoists,” Roy, who is also the Railway Minister, said. “The results have shown that not only CPI(M), but there are some other parties which are going to be insignificant in Bengal politics,” he added. “The results of the civic polls have proved that the people are with Trinamool Congress and again they have shown confidence in the leadership of Mamata Banerjee,” he claimed, adding that his party has reached 72 seats from 19 it held earlier in the total 129 seats over the six municipal bodies spread over the state. On Congress retaining the Cooper’s Camp civic body in Nadia district, he said it was a “stray happening” and was “not significant”. Trinamool secretary-general Partha Chatterjee said, “Earlier we had seven seats when we were in alliance with the Congress; this time we have won 11 seats by going it alone.” Responding to Roy’s statement, the West Bengal unit of Congress said that TMC was welcome to fight future elections alone if they so wished to. They said they would want the Centre leadership to decide on the alliance. “What can we do if they want to fight alone? Let them.”, said a state Congress spokesman, adding “They(TMC) have lost their prestige in Haldia. In spite of that if they thought they can fight alone, Let them fight alone. God bless them.” The polls to six civic bodies were the first major local elections after the 2011 Assembly polls when Trinamool Congress had stormed to power, ending the Left Front’s 34-year rule in West Bengal. Trinamool won in the Left citadel Dhupguri, Panskura and Nalhati and in the industrial township of Durgapur. Meanwhile the Left Front captured the Haldia municipality, while the Cooper’s Camp civic body saw Congress winning. With inputs from PTI