Violence and low turnout in WB civic polls

Kolkata, May 30: The start to the the civic polls in Kolkata was not very encouraging as the the numbers in the first few hours suggesting a low turnout of people for voting. The polls were also affected by the incidents of violence in at least two places

Police used force when Trinamool Congress workers got into a brawl with the Congress workers in Burdwan district.A polling booth in Kolkata's ward number 64 was also ransacked by outsiders.

Many experts are seeing Sunday's , May 30 polls as a litmus test for the ruling Left government ahead of the 2011 Assembly polls in West Bengal. Voters across 81 municipalities in the state are voting today to elect representatives who will represent them in local civic bodies.

An estimated 7,029 candidates are contesting in these polls. A total of 85,33,238 voters will exercise their power in 1,792 wards.

The Left Front holds 54 out of 81 civic bodies. However, they look to be in a fix after string of electoral defeats since the 2008 panchayat elections and last year's Lok Sabha polls.

For the time being Communist Party of India – Marxist (CPI-M) may smile because of the disagreement between Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Congress on seat sharing but it needs to seen whether they will be able to take any advantage of this but at present, the red bastion looks clearly vulnerable.

Despite the break-up of the grand alliance with the Congress, Trinamool is looking positive and hoping to perform well in the polls

OneIndia News