The Trinamul leadership in Siliguri has adopted a two-fold strategy to revive their support base across the civic area, keeping in mind the elections to the Siliguri Municipal Corporation that is due with many other civic bodies across Bengal and is likely to be held on next year.

On one hand, they have taken up the task to improve civic services across the city through the board of administrators (BoA) that comprises party leaders, on the other hand, they are engaging state departments and development agencies to carry out infrastructural development in Siliguri and surroundings.

In north Bengal, SMC is the largest and most important civic body where Mamata Banerjee’s party has not been able to secure majority so far.

On Friday, former minister Gautam Deb, who is the chairman of the BoA of SMC and is still the most prominent face of the party in the region, reached to the outskirts of the city to lay foundation stones of a number of projects which include construction of roads and sewerage system.

The projects, for which a sum of around three crores would be spent, will be executed by the Siliguri Jalpaiguri Development Authority (SJDA), he said. SJDA chairman Sourav Chakraborty accompanied him.

All these projects will be carried out in Dabgram-Fulbari Assembly constituency, the seat from which Deb had won twice but lost to the BJP candidate at the Assembly elections this time by a margin of around 28,000 votes.

The area includes 17 (of 47) wards of Siliguri Municipal Corporation.

After Deb’s defeat, he was “rehabilitated” by the party – like some other leaders – by making him the chairperson of the BoA of SMC.

Since then, the former minister, along with other members of the BoA, has been putting all efforts to improve civic services across the city. Also, they have come up with a number of new decisions and changes in policies for better functioning of the civic body.

“Trinamul is desperate to secure majority of the seats at SMC this time. That is why the party has taken a two-fold strategy, as is evident because agencies like SJDA are being engaged to carry out infrastructural development in and around the city. It is playing the development card on one hand and on the other hand, trying to drive home the point that the BoA is providing the civic services in a much better manner,” said a political observer.

The decision to execute projects in Dabgram-Fulbari Assembly is a pointer that Gautam Deb and his party want to repair the damage caused by the saffron camp in the area ahead of the municipal polls, mentioned the observer.

Book fair

The 11th Siliguri Sub-Divisional Book Fair will be held at Baghajatin Park in Siliguri from December 13 to December 19. There will be 65 stalls at the event and 28 libraries from across the sub-division will participate in the fair, said the organizers on Friday.