TMC's no-confidence motion against Bhatpara Municipality

The no-confidence motion moved by the Trinamool Congress against Bhatpara Municipality chairman and BJP leader Sourav Singh was passed by a margin of 19-0 in the 35-member civic body on Thursday, a senior West Bengal minister said. "A trust vote was held on Thursday morning and we won it by a margin of 19-0. The BJP councillors didn't vote," state Food and Supplies Minister Jyotipriyo Mullick said.

The Trinamool Congress councillors of the BJP- controlled civic body in North 24 Parganas district had served a no-confidence notice on chairman Sourav Singh in December. The municipality has 35 members but its effective strength is 32.

Reacting to the development, BJP MP of Barrackpore Arjun Singh, under whose constituency the civic body falls, said, "We are seeking legal recourse against the illegal trust vote." A total of 26 TMC members of the civic body had joined the saffron party after the Lok Sabha elections last year, and Sourav Singh had become its chairman after winning the trust vote in June last year. In November last year, the TMC had claimed to have regained the majority in the civic body after 12 of these 26 councillors rejoined the party..