The Siliguri municipal corporation election has raised the political temperatures in West Bengal, sending off ripples that have even reached Delhi.

After the Left was trounced by the Congress-TMC alliance in the civic polls — the first time the Left was ousted from Siliguri in 28 years — the development took an even more interesting turn as the Congress officially sought the Left’s support against ally Trinamool Congress for the election to the mayoral post.

With all parties — Left, TMC and Congress — setting their sights on the Assembly elections in 2011, the Siliguri Municipal Corporation polls attracted more attention than was otherwise due. The elections were also crucial for the Left since Siliguri was considered one of its strongest citadels where it has continuously emerged victorious since 1981. Then, ever since the Lok Sabha polls, when the Left was battered by the Congress-Trinamool combine, every election, howsoever small, has become important for the front.

Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s campaign in Siliguri was a measure of how seriously the ruling party was taking the election to the municipal board. He skipped crucial Politburo meetings in Delhi but was seen campaigning in Siliguri. His wife Meera Bhattacharjee also chipped in, addressing meetings with women voters.

Previously, too, as in the Uluberia municipality board elections, it was tacit support from the Left that helped the Congress get the post of chairman by defeating its partner, the TMC. Such strange alliances have been known to be sewn up in various small panchayat boards — a TMC-BJP combine, or a BJP-CPM understanding or a TMC-Forward Bloc pact is not unknown.

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