Trimool sweeps Bengal civic polls

 Kolkata, Aug 17: Virtually bulldozing all opposition, West Bengal’s ruling Trimool Congress swept all the seven civic bodies. The BJP emerged as the main but distant opposition by displacing the Left Front in the vote count on Thursday. Of the total 148 wards spread across various pockets of the state, the Trimool Congress won an enviable 140 and the Bharatiya Jata Party six. Left Front partner Forward Bloc won one seat while an independent also emerged victorious. The Communist Party of India-Marxist, which heads the Left Front, and the Congress drew a blank in the polls held on Sunday. In East Midpore district, the Trimool bagged all the 29 wards in Haldia and 17 of the 18 wards in Panskura municipalities. The BJP won one ward in Panskura and finished second in most areas of the two civic bodies. The Trimool returned to power by claiming 12 of the 16 wards in Jalpaiguri district’s Dhupguri municipality while the remaining four went to the BJP. The lhati municipality in Birbhun district also sided with the Trimool as it finished first in 14 of the 16 wards. The Forward Bloc won one, while an independent candidate was also elected. The Trimool juggerut rolled on in the first ever polls to Buniadpur municipality in South Dijpur district, with the ruling party conquering 13 of the 14 wards. The BJP won one. In Durgapur Municipal Corporation of Burdwan West district, Trimool won all 43 wards. The Congress was wiped out in its erstwhile bastion Coopers Camp Notified Authority in dia district where Trimool won all the 12 wards. (IANS)