Murshidabad’s zilla parishad chief quits, Malda’s faces trust vote

Malda/Berhampore: Trinamool Congress’s resounding victory in Malda and Murshidabad in the recently concluded Bengal assembly elections has propelled winds of change in the top echelons of the three-tier rural administration in the two districts.
Murshidabad zilla sabhadhipati Mosharraf Hossain, who had switched to Congress from Trinamool ahead of the polls, tendered his resignation on Thursday while Trinamool members of Malda zilla parishad are bringing a no-confidence motion against sabhadhipati Gour Mandal, who is known to be a Suvendu Adhikari loyalist.
Hossain decided to step down after he lost from Naoda. Trinamool, on the other hand, bagged 18 of the 22 assembly seats in the district. The party didn’t waste time in crying no-confidence against 11 “gaddars (traitors)”, including Hossain. The meeting on the motion is scheduled on May 24.
“I submitted my resignation because my party (the Congress) lost the assembly polls. I have no moral right to continue as sabhadhipati. I will start from scratch to strengthen Congress in the district,” Hossain said.
Trinamool district president Abu Taher Khan said: “Some of the defectors tried to find their way back into the party, but we are not entertaining them.” In the 70-member Murshidabad zilla parishad, 68 owe allegiance to Trinamool and one to Congress on paper.
In Malda, Adhikari supporter Mandal had joined the BJP ahead of the elections to become a candidate from Manikchak, where he lost to Trinamool. Former sabhadhipati Sarala Murmu too had joined the BJP even though Trinamool had given the leader a poll ticket from Habibpur.
Trinamool is now all set to remove Mandal from his post because members are not in a mood to give the BJP a foothold in the zilla parishad. “We are bringing a no-confidence motion not only against him, but also his loyalists. We have the majority,” said Trinamool’s Malda president Mousam Noor.
However, Mandal — unlike his counterpart in Murshidabad — isn’t willing to go down without a fight. “I am not resigning because I enjoy the support of a majority of the members. The board is with the BJP. Most of the members are with us,” he said.