Jalpaiguri, March 11: The Congress leaders in Jalpaiguri today said they were all set to contest in the 25-ward municipality and would strive to oust Trinamul from power.

Senior leaders like Pinaki Sengupta and Nirmal Ghosh Dastidar, also the Jalpaiguri district Congress president, would contest and they are determined to secure majority, that is, 13 of the 25 seats.

"The current chairman and eight Congress councillors who were sent to the civic body by the people in 2010, ditched voters and switched to Trinamul last year. The decision has left thousands of voters disgruntled and they have expressed anguish. We are positive that residents of Jalpaiguri will vote the Congress to power," Pinaki Sengupta, former vice-chairman of the civic body and Jalpaiguri town block Congress president, said.

In the 2010 civic polls, Congress won 16 seats, the Left Front got eight and Trinamul had one seat. But in the middle of last year, civic chairman Mohan Bose and eight other Congress councillors joined Trinamul, taking the party's tally to 10. The Congress was left with seven councillors.

"After joining Trinamul, the chairman and his followers had said Jalpaiguri municipality would be upgraded to a municipal corporation. Recently, the state decided to converge some civic bodies to form a municipal corporation. But there is no mention of Jalpaiguri in the list," Sengupta said.

Congress sources said candidates have been finalised for almost all 25 wards and the names will be announced soon.

Trinamul's Mohan Bose brushed aside Congress claims. "The leaders can foresee that the candidates will perform pathetically and they are making baseless comments."