CPM faces acid test in Siliguri polls

Considering the series of defeats in almost every elections in Bengal since the Nandigram and Singur fiasco, the elections to the Siliguri Municipal Corporation (SMC) are being said to be an acid test for the ruling CPM in regaining its lost ground. The results will be announced tomorrow.

A section of poll strategists in the party still feels that the erosion in the votebank cannot be stemmed before the 2011 Assembly polls, making it a fair chance for the Mamata Banerjee-led Opposition in the polls.

The SMC results will show if the ‘wave of change’ ushered in by the Opposition still continues. Since 1981, the LF has won all the SMC polls it contested, as its victory was considered to be caused by the division of votes in the Opposition camp. This time, however, the Trinamool and the Congress together contested against the Left Front candidates.

indianachu - 06