Nandigram: Trinamool swept all 12 seats in the election to the Amdabad Samabay Krishi Unnayan Samity Ltd under Ambadab 1 gram panchayat on Sunday, dealing a clean defeat to BJP and the Left front. The result is politically significant as it comes ahead of the assembly elections and in Nandigram, the constituency of Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari.
The cooperative society, once a CPI(M) stronghold, had not held elections for a long period. Since the 2011 change of govt in Bengal, TMC had been attempting to expand its presence in the area. Polling was held amid security arrangements in a three-cornered contest involving TMC, BJP and the Left front.
Results were announced late in the evening, with TMC netas projecting the outcome as a sign of growing support in Purba Medinipur. Arunabha Bhuiyan, general secretary of TMC's Tamluk organisational district, said the close contest and party's clean sweep reflected a shift in local support ahead of the assembly polls. He claimed the outcome showed BJP was losing ground in what it considers a stronghold.
BJP rejected TMC's interpretation as premature. A district BJP functionary said the party had performed poorly in other cooperative society polls across Nandigram and argued that the result of a single society could reflect the broader political mood ahead of the assembly elections. BJP maintained that the larger trend would be clear only during the polls.