The Congress-TMC Coalition in Siliguri appears to be a marriage sans love and arrangement sans principle.The coalition won the municipal elections of September last on the strength of the negative votes against the Left Front,more specifically against the CPI(M).Immediately after the results, the partners ,possibly ,began to be in the make-believe world that the people voted for them overwhelmingly against the incumbents.True,their strength increased significantly and it could be read as a popular verdict enabling them jointly to form the municipal board.They won with party symbols 29wards and one ward went to an independent candidate supported by them. However, they should not,perhaps, lose sight of the fact that Left Front won 17 wards with CPI(M) retaining 15 seats.
When both TMC and Congress staked claim to the post of Mayor and filed nominations separately,it became clear that the voters,in fact , were wiser than the politicians to award identical strength to the major contenders-Congress-15,TMC-14+1(the independent siding with them) and CPI(M)-15. Hats off to the wisdom of the electorate who,apparently, wanted to tame the politicians and expose their greed for power and unprincipled stand they are wont to take.
Congress formed the board with the left support.The people of the town were frustrated and felt they had been betrayed by all the three major players.TMC failed to live upto the expectation of the people as they,being the dominant partner in the coalition against the incumbents in West Bengal,were unable to keep the formation intact and the partners in good humour.Congress came under fire when they sought and got the left support.Pro-changers could not accept the manoeuvre of the party. CPI(M) rank and file found the decision to support congress unacceptable as it was counter to their opposition to the Congress policies they demonstrated during the poll campaigns.
Mayor Gangotri Dutta is yet to have her Deputy Mayor, MICs and Borough Chairmen ,perhaps,to get TMC into the Board. TMC,however,made it clear they would not join the Left Front supported board.Whatever be the contention of the alliance partner,the mayor must have a way out to allocate portfolios
