Storms are a norm in West Bengal during summer. But this election season, a ‘mini-tornado’ has taken centre stage in the State’s political theatre. On April 2, a storm, termed a ‘mini-tornado’ by the Regional Meteorological Centre in Kolkata, ravaged Barnish village in Jalpaiguri’s Maynaguri killing five people and leaving hundreds homeless. The Trinamool Congress has now latched onto the calamity as a rallying point ahead of the April 19 first phase of the Lok Sabha election when Jalpaiguri votes.
Within hours of the storm, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee visited Barnish and met the affected villagers. She said since the model code of conduct is in force, she cannot rebuild the damaged houses. West Bengal BJP leaders, including the local MP Jayanta Roy and Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, too visited the area, but the Trinamool leaders asked why Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not fly down to console the bereaved families.
Even as the politics plays out at election rallies and on social media, at Barnish, Pinnabala Roy knows that she does not have a house anymore. “Nothing is left. We do not even have a tumbler to drink water from,” the woman said, sitting beside a pile of rubble to which her house has been reduced to. Her younger son Sanjay, daughter-in-law Shampa and grandson Rohit have been hospitalised after sustaining injuries in the calamity. A new makeshift structure is taking shape where once their house stood.
Pinnabala Roy, a resident of Barnish, stands outside a makeshift tent erected by the West Bengal government | Photo Credit: Shiv Sahay Singh
“Some of my son’s friends are trying to build this house for us,” she said. For now, the State’s Disaster Management Department has erected a tent where the elderly woman spends sleepless nights.
“We have lost all documents including voter identity cards and bank passbooks,” said Dinabandhu Roy, Sanjay’s brother.
The Election Commission has assured that affected villagers will be able to cast their votes even without voter identity cards. But Mr. Roy said elections are not the family’s priority now as it waits for the injured to recover. The three Roy brothers used to eke out a living by driving pick-up vans. Along with their modest dwelling, the storm has destroyed their vehicles.
A few days after the calamity, several relief camps were set up at Barnish. The camps are being run by small organisations that are providing cooked food to the affected. A few members of the transgender community from Jalpaiguri district have come to distribute mats, sarees and mosquito nets. Many villagers said since political parties cannot provide relief under their banners because of the model code of conduct, voluntary organisations are working on their behalf.
Elsewhere, a war of words has erupted between the Trinamool and the BJP. Trinamool general secretary Abhishek Banerjee has said “no one can stop us” from helping the people. “I, along with our delegation, also met the storm-affected families of Jalpaiguri & assured them that regardless of the roadblocks created by ECI & BJP, GoWB will provide ₹1.2 lakh to rehabilitate the shelterless. No one can stop us from serving our Ma, Mati, Manush! Jalpaiguri has made its choice clear,” Mr. Banerjee posted on social media.
In response, Mr. Adhikari said the Election Commission on April 9 had already granted exemption from the model code payment of ex-gratia and house building grant. “You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time,” he said.
In Jalpaiguri, the BJP’s Jayanta Roy is pitted against the Trinamool’s Nirmal Chandra Roy. The CPI(M)‘s Debraj Barman is the joint candidate of the Left and the Congress from the seat.
