Money key factor in choice of candidates in Bengal panchayat polls: Trinamool MLA

Kolkata: Now, a heavyweight but controversial legislator of Trinamool Congress has accused the party leadership of ensuring tickets to candidates on lieu of money in the recently concluded panchayat polls in West Bengal.

"In several districts, especially in Murshidabad, money had been the deciding factor in selection of party candidates in the panchayat polls. The block presidents in the districts were mainly responsible for this collection of money to ensure party tickets. Even the decided names of

candidates were changed at the last moments and obviously money played a role in that. First the block president in the district needs to be changed," said Idris Ali, Trinamool Congress MLA from Bhagwangola Assembly constituency in Murshidabad district while speaking to the newspersons.

Ali’s comments were a virtual echo of similar comments made by another Trinamool Congress legislator from the same district, Humayun Kabir, who is the party MLA from Bharatpur Assembly constituency.

The successive comments by the two party MLAs reveals the nasty infighting within the state’s

ruling party in Murshidabad district, where a number of party MLAs are already up in arms against the district president Shaoni Sinha Roy.

While Trinamool Congress has maintained total silence on the allegations levelled by Ali, opposition leaders take it as a revelation of the ruling infighting over the share of that money collected for giving candidatures in the recently concluded rural civic body polls.

According to CPI(M) central committee member Dr Sujan Chakraborty, the infighting in Trinamool Congress is becoming public as the ill-gotten money has not been shared equally among all ranks of leadership.

BJP state president in West Bengal and the party Lok Sabha member, Sukanta Majumdar said that what Ali said is nothing new since the other name of corruption is Trinamool Congress.