Aggressive TMC versus a timid Opposition

It was unusual to see the Communist Party of India (Marxist), or CPI(M), candidate from Nanoor, Shyamali Pradhan, sleeping in the party office in the afternoon days ahead of elections. The party's zonal committee secretary Hasibur Rehman was getting ready to take a bath and other workers were about to go for their routine afternoon nap only to be disturbed by our unwanted intrusion. An old vehicle parked outside the office gave the impression that it has not run for days.

Nanoor, one of 11 Assembly constituencies in West Bengal's Birbhum district, has seen a series of violent clashes in recent years. In July 2000, 11 farmers owing allegiance to the Trinamool Congress (TMC) were reportedly killed by CPI(M) workers and sympathisers. That was the beginning of the people's alienation with the Left in the area that culminated in a thumping win for the TMC in 2011.

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There has been a number of political killings since then. In one of them, a five-time CPI(M) member of legislative Assembly lost his life. His picture, one of the many, has now made it to the wall at the entrance of the zonal office. Political violence followed by the change of power in the state in 2011 shocked the local communists and many of them either switched sides or became inactive out of fear.

They say they were not allowed to file nomination papers in the 2013 panchayat elections and the massive drubbing in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections demoralised them even further. CPI(M) candidates trailed by 50,000 votes in the Assembly segment in 2014 elections. It is only now that they have begun to pick up pieces "encouraged by the positive feedback from the ground", the zonal committee secretary told this reporter. The CPI(M) began campaigning in the constituency only two months ago.

The so-called class divide during the 34-year rule of the Left Front in the state has been replaced by the ruling-opposition divide since Mamata Banerjee took office in 2011, say political observers. Ruling-party workers are aggressive and resourceful on the ground, compared to diffidence and silence of the Opposition, they add. As a result, not many people are willing to talk about politics, fearing persecution.

"Why are you wasting your time by discussing politics? We do not want to talk about it. We do not know who is watching us and who will get angry if we say something," says Alam who used to run an LPG distribution agency in Nanoor town. He was, however, kind enough to guide this reporter to nearby villages and locations, which was helpful in understanding the local situation.

But, the facade of silence does not quite hide the growing dissatisfaction with the ruling TMC. What has added to the TMC's woes is the growing factionalism within the party in Nanoor. The warring factions are represented by sitting MLA Gadadhar Hazra and his rival Kajol Sheikh. The latter with a considerable clout over Nanoor constituency is openly backing the CPI(M) candidate and locals say it might prove costly for the TMC.

Of the 11 Assembly seats in Birbhum, the TMC-led alliance had won eight in 2011. But, local TMC leaders admit they will be very lucky if they repeat that performance. "We may lose in Nanoor, Suri, Sainthia and Nalhati," says an influential TMC leader. He moves around with gunmen and runs schools in and around the town of Bolpur, the home to Visva Bharati University.

In Nalhati too, the TMC struggled to keep factionalism in check. "The factionalism is a result of intense competition among TMC workers to corner greater share of spoils. In Nanoor, the fight is about who gets a bigger share of illegal sand mining in Ajoy river. In Nalhati, it is about who gets to control the urban local body and the associated benefits," a Kolkata-based journalist told this reporter.

Nanoor is not the only place where man-made tragedy turned the people against the Left.

Debogram in Nadia district is yet another tragedy-struck place, which eroded the support base of the Left parties in the region. A contaminated polio vaccine administered at a government-run primary health centre in June 1995 killed three infants. The uproar that followed saw villagers setting the health centre on fire.

Banerjee, then a fiery Congress leader, was the first to visit the site to console the families of victims. The people of Debogram returned the favour by voting overwhelmingly for her subsequently. The victory for Banerjee in 2011 gave the villagers the hope of poriborton (change). The TMC won 14 of the total 17 seats in Nadia, of which Debogram of Kaliganj Assembly constituency is a part.

However, at the end of TMC's rule, some villagers are having second thoughts about supporting Banerjee. Malati Das, who lost her daughter in the 1995 tragedy, says she is not sure whether she would like to vote for the party this time.

The reasons, according to Das' relatives, are that the promised 'change' is yet to happen and local TMC workers are anything but civil. This reporter heard similar views in Murshidabad, Nadia, Birbhum, Bardhaman, North 24 Parganas and South 24 Parganas districts.

"After the TMC got the power, all local goons switched their loyalty and joined the party. They have had a field day in the past five years. They control almost everything at the local level and they never shy away from harassing people. There is a limit to how much we can take," says the owner of a roadside dhaba in Bantala village of South 24 Parganas district. He did not wish to be named.