Kolkata: West Bengal’s ruling Left Front has suffered setbacks in zila parishad elections in Nandigram and Singur, two places where people rejected its proposal to build special economic zones.
The CPI-M-led Front lost all zila parishad seats in Nandigram, which two years ago saw violent protests against the state government's plan to acquire land for a chemical hub.
The Trinamool Congress won the zila parishad elections in East Midnapur district where Nandigram is located. The party won 32 of the 53 seats, results of which were declared till Wednesday noon.
The Front was jolted in East Midnapore district, losing control of the zila parishad—the top tier of the panchayat system—after an uninterrupted reign of 30 years since 1977, besides suffering setbacks in the North 24 Parganas and South 24 Parganas districts.
East Midnapore is the stronghold of CPI-M leader Lakshman Seth, who last week allegedly threatened a senior police officer who was on poll duty in Nandigram.
The Left Front lost three zila parishad seats in Singur to Trinamool Congress, which led people against land acquisition for the small car factory of Tata Motors.
The alliance however is leading in most of the 47 zila parishad seats in other areas of Hooghly district, where Singur is located. It is also leading in West Midnapur, Birbhum, Jalpaiguri, Howrah, Bankura, Purulia and Burdwan districts.
Left out in SEZ hotspots
The Trinamool Congress-led Bhumi Uchched Pratirodh Committee led the campaign against the state government’s proposal to build chemical hub in Nandigram for over one year. Fourteen people were killed in Nandigram in police firing on March 14 last year while protesting against the proposal.
The state government then shifted the project from Nandigram to Nayachar Island in East Midnapur district.
The importance of zila parishad elections
Zila Parishad is the third and top tier of Panchayat system. Nearly 37.5 million rural voters in West Bengal voted in the panchayat elections held on May 11, 14 and 18. About 51,000 winners will take charge of the decentralised rural governance.
West Bengal's three-tier panchayat system comprises Gram Panchayat, Panchayat Samiti and Zilla Parishad.
(With inputs from IANS and PTI)
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