Trinamul has said it wants to field some apolitical faces in the
coming municipal polls in the hills, a strategy the party adopted before
to ward off dissidence and preserve the organisation's goodwill in case
of a defeat.
"Along with political people, we plan to nominate some apolitical
persons who have popularity in their respective localities and are known
for their contributions to the society as candidates in hill municipal
polls. We have been categorically instructed by the state leadership to
take utmost care in selecting the candidates," Binny Sharma, the
spokesperson for hill Trinamul, said today.
Trinamul had nominated apolitical people as candidates in polls earlier also.
"In local polls, it is often found that more than
one party worker or leader want to be the candidate. To avoid an
internal feud in Trinamul, an apolitical person is fielded as a
candidate. When the party faced similar problems in Assembly and
Parliament polls before, apolitical faces were given tickets," said an
observer.
"If an apolitical person is fielded and he wins, credit goes to the
party as he/she is not known in the political arena. If the candidate
loses, the party doesn't suffer much harm and repercussions are minimal,
said the observer.
Sharma said Trinamul leaders and workers had been busy with the visit of chief minister Mamata Banerjee to Mirik yesterday.
"From tomorrow, we will start the candidate selection process. Names
have been sought from local leaders. Once we receive the names, those
would be scrutinised and if required, we will consult with state
leaders. Selection of candidates is an important work and we want to
carry out the process in a serious manner so that the best from the list
are chosen in each wards of four civic bodies," he said.
In the hills, polls would be held in 84 wards of Darjeeling,
Kurseong, Kalimpong and Mirik municipalities. This is the first time
that Trinamul is giving so much impetus to the hill civic polls.
In 2012, the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha had won uncontested all seats, except five in Mirik.
Hill Trinamul leaders said there was no possibility that those Morcha
leaders and members who had switched to the ruling party would be among
the nominees of the municipal elections.
"We will strictly work out certain parameters and the most important
factor is one's reputation. Whether the person concerned can carry out
the responsibility of working for the party and expedite development
once elected as a councillor will be also assessed. There are some
reputed people who have quit the Morcha and joined our party. Many of
them will get nominations in the civic elections. However, there is no
guarantee that all new entrants would get tickets," said a Trinamul
leader who didn't want to be named.
Trinamul is taking such a caution because it doesn't want its
councillors to be lackadaisical. "We want them to perform and prove that
the Trinamul civic boards are better that those run by the Morcha. This
is because we are eyeing rural polls and elections to the GTA which
would be held this year. If our elected representatives can prove
themselves in towns, it would help us garner support in rural areas,"
said a Trinamul insider.
"If we do not choose competent candidates, this strategy will fail even if we win civic bodies," he added.
Around 2,500 residents of Garidhura and nearby areas - a small hamlet
located in the foothills and around 20km from here - joined Trinamul
today. Among them were a number of workers of the Morcha.
State minister Aroop Biswas was present at the event where new Trinamul entrants were given party flags.(TT)
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