KOLKATA: BJP state President Sukanta Majumdar on Saturday alleged the ruling Trinamool Congress and CPI(M) had entered into a secret compact in the recently held civic polls where BJP could not win in any of the 108 municipalities to which elections were held.
He also said the TMC has unleashed an "unofficial emergency" in the state, where working for BJP was "nothing short of a crime."
After a `Chintan Baithak' (Introspection meet) of the saffron party's Bengal unit here on Saturday at the National Library auditorium, Majumdar said at a press conference CPI(M) and TMC together had "entered into a secret understanding, a `fish fry' diplomacy (a compact between the cook and consumer, at the expense of the fish) for the local body polls."
Majumdar giving an example to buttress his proposition, claimed that out of 10 wards in a municipal body, he found "TMC won seven while CPI(M) won three."
While TMC won 102 out of the 108 municipalities which went to the polls, CPI(M) and a new Darjeeling-based party, Hamro Party, won one each while four urban bodies saw a hung house.
TMC with 63.45 per cent of the total votes polled came out as the undisputed leader, with CPI(M) a distant second with 14.13 per cent of votes and BJP a close third with 12.57 per cent votes.
Analysts believe the CPI(M) is witnessing a mini-revival on the back of their students' and youth wings, while a demoralised BJP has simply continued to lose recently gained ground.
Veteran BJP leader Tathagata Roy tweeted in Bengali, "After the debacle in assembly polls BJP had not gone for corrective steps and instead took pride in swelling its tally from 3 to 77. This ostrich like behaviour has resulted in the near decimation of the party in municipal elections. The `Chintan Baithak' will serve no purpose as the damage has already been done."
Majumdar, who addressed party functionaries from all over state during the `Chintan Baithak' however claimed the recently concluded municipal polls in the state were "farcical" and only BJP put up a spirited fight.
Majumdar in his speech to BJP workers charged, "In Bengal an unofficial emergency situation prevails."
"One is not targeted in the same way for being part of CPI(M), Congress or others, the way one is singled out for being part of BJP," the BJP MP from Balurghat alleged.
He claimed that police remains inactive when his party's `karyakartas' (workers) "are beaten up or even murdered by Trinamool goons."
"We will certainly come out of this situation as we enjoy the trust and confidence of people which is not reflected in the municipalty and panchayat vote results as TMC, in league with the administration and police, don't allow free and fair polls. This will change in the coming days," Majumdar claimed.
The ruling TMC reacted to the charges claiming that these were "wild allegations" made by a party which did not enjoy the confidence of the electorate.
TMC state spokesperson Kunal Ghosh reacting to the BJP's charges, averred "Sukanta Majumdar knows very well his party doesn't enjoy the confidence or support of the people of Bengal."
He claimed the BJP leadership "wanted to deflect attention from their failure by making wild allegations."
Ghosh said rather than inventing coinage which shows his political inexperience, Majumdar must explain "why his party fared so poorly in Balurghat Municipality. From the places he led in the lok sabha polls."
The meeting took place after among others, senior BJP leader and MP Locket Chatterjee called for introspection following the party's debacle in the municipal polls and a drop in its party vote share.
Significantly, Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari did not attend the `Chintan Baithak', though a senior leader claimed he was busy with organisational work in Purba Medinipur district.
Another leader claimed a party MP said at the closed door session that instead of putting the entire focus on allegations of rigging and malpractices by Trinamool in the Municipal polls, the BJP leadership should introspect why the CPI(M) could pip the party in recently concluded civic body polls, while the BJP failed to open its account anywhere including in North Bengal, it's stronghold.