The recently concluded Bengal Municipal and Corporation elections apparently resulted in a major victory for Mamta Banerjee led Trinamool Government, To discuss more about the issues. Newsclick Interviewed Prabir Purkaystha. Even the mainstream media conceded that the Trinamool victory was achieved through rigging, booth capturing and violence. Leaders of opposition party such as Rupa Bagchi, the leader of the CPI(M) in Kolkata Corporation, were threatened on election day; former Minister, Kanti Ganguly and his son were physically attacked and injured. Though this time, there was some resistance, it was not enough to stop the rigging, given the completely partisan role of the administration and the police. At some places like Siliguri, a limited unity to stop booth capturing by getting together all the opposition parties succeeded in stopping Trinamool thugs from capturing the polling booths..
The other part of the municipal and coloration elections is that BJP's strength has give back to its figure of 15-16%, which it probably always had in Bengal. BJPs' claim to have more than 55 lakh members proved to be a sham as they could win only few seats.
