Forward Bloc supporters celebrate the party’s victory in Dinhata, Cooch Behar, on Wednesday. Picture by Main Uddin Chisti

Cooch Behar, June 2: The buzz that the Trinamul Congress would make inroads into the Dinhata municipality had been born after the 2006 Assembly elections when the party sank its teeth for the first time into the traditional Forward Bloc bastion.

But despite the buzz, the Left Front retained the Dinhata municipality this time by winning 13 of the 15 wards. Trinamul could not increase its tally that stuck to two seats. The Congress that had won two wards in 2005 has been wiped out of the Dinhata civic body.

Trinamul’s Ashok Mondol, who had defeated Udayan Guha, the son of late Bloc stalwart Kamal Guha, by 3,630 votes in the 2006 Assembly elections, won from ward 6. The other Trinamul winner is Rabi Dey in ward 11.

All Bloc candidates fielded in nine wards won. The CPM that had fielded five candidates and supported an Independent won in four wards.

Political observers here pointed out that after his defeat in the Assembly elections, Guha concentrated on strengthening the Bloc which had been riddled by factionalism, particularly after the demise of Kamal Guha.

“After tasting defeat in the hands of the Trinamul Congress, Udayan, instead of becoming aloof remained active in politics and continued to rally his forces. Another major factor was the close and coordinated strategies that he adopted with the CPM in the district, something that was rarely seen earlier,” an observer said.

In fact, the killing of five Bloc supporters on February 5, 2008, in a police firing in front of the subdivisional office in Dinhata had left the two Left Front partners opposed to each other. “This had an effect on the May 2008 panchayat polls and Trinamul made inroads into panchayat samities where the Left had sitting MLAs,” the observer said.

However, he said it was quite surprising to see the rapport Guha had built with the CPM in recent times so that the Dinhata municipality remained with the Left Front.

It is not that Trinamul had not gained in the district. “The party has won from three wards in Cooch Behar, six in Mathabhanga and four in Toofanganj taking its number up from six to 15 in all the four municipalities in Cooch Behar district.

“The Left Front will independently form the boards in the Dinhata and Toofanganj municipalities. We are satisfied with the results and the people have voted in our favour,” Guha said after the results were declared.

The district president of Trinamul, Rabindranath Ghosh, did not have much to say. “We will have to analyse the results, that is all I can say at the moment,” he said.