Kolkata: The Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI) has hinted at a possible electoral alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the upcoming West Bengal municipal elections, scheduled to be held later this year.
NCPI leaders said the party, which has joined the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), could contest the civic polls alongside the BJP. However, senior BJP leaders in the state have so far avoided making any commitment, saying the party is currently concentrating on all 209 seats of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation.
Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, a former Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP who recently joined the NCPI, said the party would contest as part of the NDA. She indicated that discussions on seat-sharing and a formal coalition would take place closer to the elections.
Another former TMC MP, Sudip Bandyopadhyay, also claimed that preliminary discussions had already taken place with the chief minister regarding the possibility of the two parties contesting together.
The political developments come months after the BJP defeated the TMC in the West Bengal Assembly elections and formed the government in the state. The BJP won 208 of the 294 Assembly seats, ending the TMC's long spell in power.
Since the change of government, several TMC councillors and municipal chairpersons have resigned. Some former civic leaders were also arrested in corruption-related cases. Following the resignations, the BJP government appointed administrators to run several civic bodies.
According to the report, at least 20 TMC MPs led by Dastidar have left the party and joined the NCPI, adding a new dimension to the state's political landscape ahead of the civic polls.
The BJP, however, has not confirmed any alliance. Union minister and senior BJP leader Sukanta Majumdar said the party was currently focused on all 209 Kolkata Municipal Corporation seats and that decisions regarding candidates and election symbols would be taken later.
The TMC has dismissed the NCPI's claims. Veteran TMC MP Saugata Roy said the NCPI has little organisational presence and questioned its electoral prospects.
Meanwhile, the West Bengal State Election Commission has begun preparations for the civic elections. Officials held a meeting with district magistrates and district municipal election officers from six districts, including Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Jalpaiguri, South 24 Parganas, Howrah and East Midnapore.
The meeting reviewed preparations related to ward delimitation, reservation, EVM management, electoral rolls, polling stations, polling personnel and other logistical arrangements.
The upcoming municipal elections will be the first major civic polls in Bengal since the BJP's Assembly victory and could provide an early test of the state's new political equation.
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