KOLKATA: The Congress -Trinamool Congress alliance in West Bengal received a jolt on Thursday after the Congress candidate won the post of mayor of Siliguri Municipal Corporation in North Bengal with the support of the CPM. To protest the incident, the Trinamool Congress supporters ransacked the Baghajatin Park where the Corporation authorities had organised a function to felicitate the elected councillors of the civic body.
Congress candidate Gangotri Dutta received 32 votes against Trinamool Congress aspirant Goutam Deb’s 15.
Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee vehemently criticised the Congress leadership for taking the support of the CPM and announced that TC councillors would sit in the Opposition bench.
The election of the municipal corporation was held on September 13 when the Opposition alliance defeated the Left Front-run civic body.
Out of 47 seats, Congress and Trinamool Congress candidates bagged 30 seats while the CPM-led Left Front got 17.
But a sharp difference between the Congress and Trinamool Congress developed over the post of mayor and as the parties failed to reach a consensus both contested the election.
The Congress appealed to the CPM to support their candidate and sent a letter to the district CPM leadership on Wednesday night.
“The Congress requested us to support their candidate for the post of mayor. After getting the letter we had decided to give unconditional support to Dutta,” West Bengal Urban Development Minister and a prominent CPM leader of Siliguri Ashok Bhattacharya said.