Mamta Banerjee’s sister-in-law is one of the leading candidates in the election. (file photo)
New Delhi:
Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress got a big lead in the counting of votes for the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) elections on Tuesday amid heavy security.
Trinamool Congress has won 17 out of 144 seats in Kolkata Municipal Corporation, for which voting was held on Sunday. The party is leading in 118 seats.
The state’s ruling party has a massive lead over its nearest rivals, the BJP (four) and the Left (one). Congress is leading in only two wards.
The Trinamool, which returned to power earlier this year with a massive victory over its rival BJP, seems to have made gains in the civic body since 2015, when it won 114 seats. The Left is headed for a major decline from its 15-seat tally in the last elections. Congress remains at number four and is expected to end up with fewer seats than before.
After the Left and the Congress contested the assembly elections in alliance, they decided to contest the Kolkata civic polls separately.
No party has announced any face for the post of mayor.
This time one of the main candidates of Trinamool is Kajri Banerjee, sister-in-law of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. She is leading by over 3,000 votes in Ward No 73, Bhawanipur.
Bengal BJP has alleged violence and election violation in the civic polls. In a letter to the State Election Commission on Sunday, the party called the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) elections a farce and alleged that the police had failed to stop the violence.
Earlier, the Trinamool Congress had accused the BJP of trying to attract voters in a ward by offering them biryani.
There were incidents of sporadic violence during the polling on Sunday. Bombs were reportedly hurled at two polling stations.
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