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Updated: Jul 11, 2019 23:44 IST

After being jolted by serial switchovers to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) by legislators, councillors and rural body functionaries, Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress (TMC) appeared set to regain control of Kanchrapara municipality on Thursday, a day after it took back Halishahar municipality.

Both civic bodies are in Bijpur Assembly constituency, the home turf of Mukul Roy, a former TMC leader and once a close aide of the Bengal chief minister. His son, Subhranshu, is a member of the Kanchrapara civic body. Subhranshu won from Bijpur in 2011 and 2016 on a TMC ticket but switched to the BJP after the Lok Sabha election results were announced.

Over the last two days, 13 councillors who joined the BJP have returned to the TMC fold. On Wednesday, eight councillors from Halisahar civic body returned, taking the TMC tally to 13 in a board of 23. On Thursday, five councillors of Kanchrapara civic body returned, taking the TMC tally to 10 in a board of 24.

“We had five in the Kanchrapara civic body and five came back to us today. Three more will rejoin us. This will take the number of TMC councillors to 13 and we will regain majority in the 24-member board in Kanchrapara,” urban development minister Firhad Hakim told reporters on Thursday on the Assembly premises, with the five councillors standing beside him. Hakim then took a jibe at Mukul Roy and son Subhranshu. “The stock of the father and son will go down before the party (BJP) bosses now,” he said. BJP leaders accused the ruling party of strong-arm tactics. “TMC forced them to rejoin the party. They came under pressure from the police and the goons. This is a battle between democracy and anarchy. You will see in the coming days who gains control of the civic bodies,” said BJP national general secretary and Bengal in-charge Kailash Vijayvargiya.

Alakananda Chaudhuri, one of the five councillors of Kanchrapara civic body who rejoined the TMC on Thursday, said, “After the Bijpur legislator switched to the BJP, we got scared. In order to remain safe, we also joined the BJP. I returned to the TMC fold because Mamata Banerjee is the true leader of Bengal.”

According to Maidul Islam, assistant professor of political science of Centre for Studies in Social Studies, Kolkata, “The two civic bodies represent a prestige fight. But the more interesting part is why did they return. On Wednesday, some of them said it was difficult for them to adjust with the BJP.”