Author: Krishnedu Bandyopadhyay & Falguni
Banerjee
Publication: The Times of India
Dated: April 6, 2006
Introduction: It's a place where CPM polls
99% votes, yet hardly anyone talks of the red brigade. When they do, it's
in hushed tones
The Opposition (read the Trinamul-BJP combine)
is hot potato in Arambagh sub-division of Hooghly district. "It's safe
to drop it as quickly as possible," says Anup De, a lawyer who practises
at the Arambagh sub-divisional judicial magistrate's court.
Nothing can be as true as De's telling commentary
on Arambagh, widely known to be the state's potato basket. For, this is where
in the 2003 panchayat polls, the Trinamul-BJP combine couldn't not field a
single candidate in any of the 877 gram panchayat seats.
Despite being the state's richest sub-division,
there are some pockets such as Sitalpur, Arandi and Rasulpur in Pursurah where
there's no potable water and electricity has only a symbolic presence. And
yet, Pursurah is the country's highest potato-producing block.
"The government talks big on agro industry.
The region's only potato-dust manufacturing unit has shit down. Distress sale
of potato is routine," says Ramchandra Das, a Goghat farmer.
"The promised rail link between Tarakeswar
and Bishnupur via Arambagh never materialised, despite two foundation-stone
laying ceremonies. If we had a railway line, we could export potato. Road
transport is costly," says Janardan Santra of Khanakul.
Ask them about the CPM's terror, which has
almost wiped out the opposition, Ramchandra and Janardan smile. In the 2004
parliamentary polls, Arambagh scripted a world record. "The sub-division
witnessed a blistering 99 % polling and Anil Basu won by an unheard of margin.
The dead and alive alike voted for him," recalls Tayeb Hussain, an eatery-owner
at Arambagh.
But such independent voices are seldom heard
in the villages. Unless the person is a diehard Trinamul worker, nobody says
anything that's inconvenient to the red brigade. "Such a monolithic presence
of the CPM is unnerving. We've lost our voice. Even a mere disagreement is
seen as rebellion. We live under constant fear," a teacher at Arambagh's
Netaji Subhas College says.
Till recently, all the Trinamul offices were
under lock and key and all party workers on the run. Now, with the ·Election
Commission stepping in, the administration has taken steps to reassure and
get them back.
CPM candidate for Pursurah Anjan Bera is sarcastic
about this "home-coming".
"This is ridiculous. Trinamul has no
organisation. Even if they get one vote, I would wonder why it went their
way. They haven't done anything," he says. Bera's candidature has triggered
a squabble in the CPM. Ever since his name was announced, district secretariat
member Asit Patra has gone into hibernation, CPM insiders confide. Only the
CPM can defeat CPM in Arambagh.
The quarrel in the Trinamul is out in the
open. At a recent Khanakul Trinamul Karmi Sabha meet, leaders washed dirty
lipen in public. One party member triumphantly told reporters that he had
I leaked damaging informa- ~ tion on their candidate, Kal- I yani Majhi, to
CPM. Majhi is ~ Mamata Banerjee's choice.
A large section of local Trinamul workers
is more than willing to backstab. Majhi, though, is unconcerned. She parrots
what she's taught: "I am 100 percent sure of my win."
Majhi's mighty opponent from Khanakul, Bangshi
Badan Moitra, is through with his first round of door-to-door campaigning.
He's now concentrating on the second round. ''I'm just asking them to vote,"
Moitra says. Ask him about CPM's terror tactics, he goes into splits. "Through
the year, we're with our people. People know the Trinamul. Why would anyone
vote for them?" says Khanakul CPM zonal secretary Ajizul Haque.
