Malda: BJP on Tuesday took control of the 43-member Malda zilla parishad despite holding only four elected seats, securing the board with the support of 26 Trinamool members, who officially maintain their allegiance to Mamata Banerjee .
This follows a similar development in Aug, when BJP — with just six elected members in the 52-member Nadia zilla parishad — took control with the help of Trinamool dissidents. The 43-member council originally comprised 34 TMC members, five from Congress and four from BJP. However, 19 dissident TMC members, backed by Congress, subsequently brought a no-confidence motion against the sabhadipati and her deputy. At Tuesday’s meeting — attended by 26 TMC members and four BJP members — Congress boycotted proceedings in protest against alleged police high-handedness.
In Malda, the unexpected BJP-TMC combination also thwarted Congress , which had been aiming to break the political deadlock with the backing of a faction of TMC members. With BJP taking charge, party member Dipali Bala was elected sabhadipati, while outgoing sabhadipati Lipika Barman Ghosh of TMC was named her deputy. An outraged Congress leadership has threatened to challenge the formation of the board in Calcutta High Court. In the interim, a majority of TMC members had aligned with local Congress netas and camped at undisclosed locations in Jharkhand. In the presence of Congress MP Isha Khan Choudhury, police detained four members over a prior complaint. With no opposing candidates, Bala’s nomination for sabhadipati and Ghosh’s for deputy were accepted unanimously.
Tensions flared on Monday night when those council members returned to Malda Town station.
BJP North Malda district president Pratap Singh said: “We proposed our candidate without soliciting support from anyone. We cannot control who chooses to vote for us.”