Mayor Gautam Deb, a veteran Trinamul Congress leader in north Bengal, and Siliguri BJP MLA Shankar Ghosh have started reaching out to the residents of the city.
While Shankar has launched “Sorasori Shankar (direct interaction with Shankar)” and started visiting various wards of the Siliguri Municipal Corporation (SMC), Deb kicked off “Manusher Kache Chalo (reaching out to people)”.
On Monday, the MLA reached ward 47, which Trinamul had won in the civic polls in February 2022.
“I spoke to the residents who told me that because of the negligent attitude of the civic board and the local councillor, they are deprived of proper roads, sewerage system and drinking water supply,” Ghosh said.
While interacting with local people, he assured them that the situation would improve if the BJP were voted to power in the state in the Assembly elections next year.
“The mayor has visited some municipal wards, but there has been no change in the condition of roads and drainage. People living in most of the wards (there are 47 wards in Siliguri) are facing irregular drinking water supply. I have assured them that if the BJP comes to power in Bengal, these issues would be addressed,” the MLA added.
Ghosh’s move is seen as a counter to Deb’s visit to the wards. For the past few weeks, the mayor has been visiting different wards during weekends and meeting people.
“The mayor has covered 20 of 47 wards so far. It seems the MLA is emulating him to consolidate support. But such attempts will not work,” said a senior TMC functionary
in Siliguri.
While Ghosh reached ward 47, where the TMC had won, Deb went to ward 8 on Sunday, a seat that the BJP had won in the municipal elections.
During his visit, Deb said he had taken up the outreach programme to check out the execution of the projects taken up by the civic body.
“We are talking to the residents of the respective wards to know the status of civic services. In case any issue is flagged, we are taking steps to resolve it,” the mayor said while visiting the Nayabazar area on Sunday.
“It is a continuous process and has been taken to improve the civic services. It has nothing to do with the election,” Deb added.
The TMC won the Siliguri Assembly seat in 2011 and the BJP in 2021.
“It is evident that both parties are focusing on the seat. That is why it seems two prominent leaders of the TMC and the BJP are reaching out to people to prepare the grounds,” said an observer.