Hyderabad: First came two audiotapes. One had BJP leader and party's candidate in this Assembly elections Mukul Roy conversing with another party functionary about approaching the Election Commission on changing rules regarding deployment of booth agents during the polls.
The other had the Chief Minister of West Bengal and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee talking to a BJP functionary of Purba Medinipur district, urging him to help her party in ensuring elections.
Though the veracity of both the audio clips was never established, yet they have made some noise.
And, then came the bombshell.
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Mamata Banerjee while addressing a gathering in the Reyapara area of Nandigram on March 28, accused the father-son duo of Sisir Adhikari and Suvendu Adhikari of being the mastermind behind the Nandigram killings of March 14, 2007. 14 persons were killed when police moved in to lift a blockade in Nandigram, which the villagers had set up to prevent the acquisition of land for a special economic zone (Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemicals Investment Region) to be developed by an Indonesian conglomerate, the Salim Group.
“Probably you all remember that there were some who were in their slippers and had opened fire. They were in their Hawaii chappals. Again they are creating a mess. I can challenge anyone with the fact that without the permission of the father-son duo, police would not have entered Nandigram on that day. Fair enough, I didn't do much as I am a bhadralok,” Mamata said about her one-time close confidant Sisir and close associate Suvendu.
Soon after Mamata's words, there was a blitzkrieg of sorts. Social media was flooded with messages and media outlets were abuzz with only one underlying message – the bloodstains on Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee's starched dhoti has finally been washed off by none other than his bête-noire, Mamata Banerjee.
But, why after 14 years did Mamata suddenly say this publicly? What prompted her to make such a statement barely four days ahead of the most crucial elections she is set to face in her over-four-decades-long political career? Why did she choose Nandigram to give the CPI(M) a blank cheque, the party which she had fought tooth and nail and then tasted the goods? The same Nandigram, which in 2007 paved the way for her eventual ascendance to the hustings of Bengal? The answers are blowing in the winds of Nandigram.
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The Assembly constituency of Nandigram in Purba Medinipur district has always been a stronghold of the Left. The seat comprises Nandigram 1 and 2 Blocks, with two panchayat samities and 17 gram panchayats. Nandigram has always basked in the reflected glory of the industrial glitz of neighbouring Haldia and located close to the confluence of the Hooghly River and Bay of Bengal, Nandigram with its around 3.5 lakh people and with a little over 2.70 lakh voters, also has around 27 per cent of minority Muslim voters. And this is where the key is.
Trinamool poll managers are pinning their hopes on the minority voters residing in Nandigram Block-1 and hope that Block will tilt in favour of Mamata and that she will have a comfortable lead. The BJP on the other hand, or to be more precise, Suvendu Adhikari, who knows the area like the back of his hand, is relying on Nandigram Block-2 to build his margin as well as put up a fight against Mamata. Hence, Suvendu is leaving no stones unturned to woo the majority Hindu voters of the area.
Being close to Gangasagar, Nandigram always had a strong presence of Vaishnavites and Kirtan songs keep ringing in the hamlets every other day. Suvendu wants those songs to ring loud in the EVMs. The already floated 70-30 formula of polarising the votes is being played out brazenly.
Amid all these, the twist in the tale lies in the Left votes. Even when the Left Front was ousted by Mamata in 2011, the Left had secured close to 60,000 votes. In 2016, when the Left was decimated by Mamata again, it bagged around 53,000 votes. Finally, in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls when the Left’s vote share had plummeted to an abysmal low, it still managed to secure around 1.40 lakh votes from the Tamluk seat, of which, Nandigram is a part.
So, the arithmetic of Nandigram now points at Minakshi Mukherjee, the CPI(M) candidate from Nandigram, who could be the deciding factor in the fight between Mamata and Suvendu. Hence, Mamata’s latest overture to the Left. She simply wants to reverse the trend of Left Front votes slipping to the saffron camp (Bam vote Ram e) or at least check it. She thinks that giving a clean chit to the Left in Nandigram could bring her the numbers.
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Suvendu on the other hand is facing Mamata Banerjee, who is not a Laxman Seth, the erstwhile CPI(M)strongman and MP of Tamluk. Mamata is known for her sudden moves, her uncanny ability to give abrupt turns of an apparent normal event. And she is undoubtedly the most formidable opponent, for BJP as a party and Suvendu Adhikari as an individual. The task is all the more uphill for Mamata’s one time lieutenant.
By giving an apparent clean chit to the CPI(M), is Mamata extending an olive branch to the Left in Bengal? Is she keeping the options open even for outside support by the Left in case the Bengal election results throw up a fractured mandate? Can Mamata fool her opponents and keep her magic intact? The case of Nandigram is getting curious by the day.
Nandigram goes to the polls on April 1.
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