The Trinamul Congress on Friday managed to win the Suri municipality of Birbhum even before polls as candidates fielded by the BJP and the CPM withdrew their nominations from 15 of 21 wards amid allegations of threats and violence.

In the Birbhum district, Suri is the second municipality after Sainthia which the ruling party has bagged before the civic polls that are scheduled for February 27. In the state, Trinamul has won four civic bodies so far, the other two being Budge Budge and Dinhata.

“Trinamul resorted to extreme measures to win uncontested as many seats as it can. Many candidates were held at gunpoint or were threatened that they would be implicated in criminal cases. As a result, many candidates withdrew their papers. Let Trinamul enjoy its undemocratic victory,” said Dhruba Saha, the Birbhum district president of the BJP.

Earlier, Sainthia was won uncontested by the ruling party as no candidates filed papers against Trinamul in 13 of 16 wards.

A CPM candidate in Sainthia seat withdrew his nomination on Friday.

The ruling party could also win eight seats in Bolpur and two seats in Rampurhat uncontested because of withdrawal of nomination papers by Opposition candidates.

Goutam Ghosh, the district CPM secretary, said many Opposition candidates had panicked and hurriedly opted out of the contest as they had witnessed violence after last year’s Assembly elections.

Trinamul candidate Abhijit Dey Bhowmik (left) campaigns in ward 16 of Cooch Behar on Friday. Telegraph photo

The district Trinamul chief, Anurbata Mondal, refused to comment on the uncontested victory in Suri and withdrawal of nomination papers by the Opposition candidates.

Even in Murshidabad, considered as a bastion of Bengal Congress president Adhir Ranjan Choudhury, the party’s two candidates at Behrampore municipality withdrew their nominations allegedly under duress on Friday.

In Dinhata, where Trinamul managed to win 13 of 16 seats without contest, local MLA Udayan Guha had to face criticism from leaders of his own party.

“We want to contest the polls as we are confident that people will stand in support of Mamata Banerjee and Trinamul. There is no point in trying to secure a civic body without a contest as it has happened in Dinhata,” said former state minister and veteran party leader Rabindranath Ghosh.

Guha, however, retorted.

“Those who are making such comments had earlier failed to secure the party’s win in Dinhata. They have miserably failed in Assembly and Lok Sabha polls. It is because of their incompetence that the BJP won the Parliament seat and a number of Assembly seats (in Cooch Behar district,” the Dinhata MLA said.