Though some voters do not appear very happy with their Trinamool Congress MLA at Nandigram which captured the headlines on March 14, 2007 for the police firing that left 14 persons dead, the CPI does not look very confident of changing the equation.
The Trinamool MLA Firoza Biwi’s son fell to police bullets that triggered the anti-land acquisition movement in East Midnapore district which marked the beginning of the Left Front’s downslide in this constituency.
This Left bastion started to crumble after the State government decided to acquire land for the chemical hub in Nandigram I area which was protested by the locals backed by Trinamool Congress under of the banner Bhumi Uchhed Protirodh Committee leading to anti-land acquisition movement.
In 2009, after the expulsion of CPI’s two time MLA Illias Mahmmud Seikh from the assembly on charges of bribery, Firoza Biwi won the by-election defeating her nearest rival Paramananda Bharati by over 39,000 votes.
The Left Front has fielded Mr. Bharati for a second time, with the contest being four corner.
“The Trinamool Congress has built only two roads, one from Heria to Bidyapith and another from Chandipur to Nandigram. Nobody is getting work in MNREGA. In the last two years nothing has been done,” Mr. Bharati told PTI.
“If there is a fair election then I shall certainly win,” Mr. Bharati claimed.
Asked whether Left supporters were afraid of going to booths and the party could not field election agents, a local CPI(M) leader Naba Kumar Samanta said, “I still cannot go to Nandigram. Some people might have returned, but they cannot venture out of their houses to even go to the market.”
He said though this would not be the situation on election day when central forces would be about, “But what will happen after the central forces leave? Our supporters have to remain in Nandigram all the year round.”
On the other hand, Abdul Diyan Sheikh whose son Imadul also died in police firing raised questions about the ability of the Trinamool Congress candidate.
“Our candidate can’t even raise her voice and speak about our demands in the Assembly. What is the use of voting for her?” he questioned.
“There are other people from the martyrs families who are more efficient and competent than Firoza Biwi,” Abdul who is also the secretary of Nandigram-Khejuri Sahid Pariwar Committee said.
“We had written to our leader (Mamata Banerjee) urging her to replace the candidate, but our plea was not heard,” Pulin Bihari Mondal, father of Pushpendu Mondal who was killed in the firing, said.
“What is the point in voting her? I am yet to decide whether I will go to the polling station or not,” Mr. Mondal said.
Trinamool MP from Contai Sisir Adhikary, however, told PTI, “The decision for nominating Firoza Biwi was taken by our leader Mamata Banerjee and she will win.”
Asked whether there was internal conflict over the nomination, Mr. Adhikary said, “This is false propaganda by the Left to weaken us, but they will not succeed. We are going to win by a record margin.”
The Trinamool Congress district leadership also denied that there was a rift among party supporters.
“Initially there were some grievances, but it has been sorted out. We will defeat the CPI nominee and get more votes than in the by-election,” East Midnapore Zilla Saha Sabadhipati Mahmud Hossain told PTI.
Mr. Hossain said, “After we got the Zilla Parishad we built 16 metal roads, five bridges and revised the BPL list and gave jobs to at least 100 women under the Asha Prokolpo.”
Asked about the allegations by the CPI that they could neither campaign nor deploy polling agents out of fear, Mr. Hossain was dismissive.
“People have left them and are not with them now. What can we do? If they ask, we can lend our people,” he said.
The erosion of the Left began since 2008 panchayat elections when the Trinamool took control of all the 17 Gram Panchayats.
In the 2009 Lok Sabha election, Trinamool Congress’ Subhendu Adhikary received 1.05 lakh votes against the Left’s 51,000 from the assembly segment.
Earlier, the Nandigram Assembly Constituency which has 17 Gram Panchayats - ten in Nandigram I and seven in Nandigram II, elected Left candidates between 1982 and 2006 except in the 1996 elections when Congress candidate Debisankar Panda defeated CPI’s Sakti Bal by a margin of only 138 votes.
There are 1,95,187 voters for whom 244 booths have been set up for the fourth phase of elections on May 3, in Nandigram.
