TMC fears lost chance

OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

Calcutta, May 11: The state government's decision to appeal against yesterday's Calcutta High Court order on the panchayat elections has triggered resentment in Trinamul ranks who fear the move could delay the polls. "Since the huge victory in the 2011 Assembly polls, we have been waiting to establish our writ on the gram panchayats, panchayat samitis and the zilla parishads. Our brute majority and the fact that the administration is ours would enable us to defeat the Left in most of these bodies if the polls are held as scheduled. But it seems our government has denied us the opportunity," a senior Trinamul MP said today. "I think we have lost the chance to establish our political authority in the rural bodies by deciding to appeal against the high court order. The government's move could postpone the panchayat polls," the MP added. Asked about the political losses Trinamul could suffer if the panchayat elections were deferred, a front-ranking Trinamul leader said: "In the past two years we have cornered the CPM in most districts. Their organisational strength has eroded significantly. This is the time to vanquish the CPM by taking over the rural bodies through elections." The leader said if the polls were delayed, "the anti-incumbency factor that the Saradha default crisis has sparked will intensify". According to a Trinamul MLA overseeing panchayat poll preparations in Burdwan, if the elections are deferred, it will alienate a sizeable section of the electorate from the party as the Centre will stop releasing development funds. A Trinamul MP close to the chief minister said there was "another side of the story". According to him, if the panchayat polls are postponed, the government will get the opportunity to "buy time to calm the frayed nerves of cheated depositors and agents of the Saradha Group". He said chief minister Mamata Banerjee would, in the meantime, try to "do as much as possible" to mitigate the losses suffered by the duped depositors. http://www.telegraphindia.com/1130512/jsp/bengal/story_16888369.jsp