Nandigram ghost stalks Tamluk, violence feared

It will be a bloody election, say the contestants of Tamluk constituency in East Midnapore district of West Bengal. They may or may not be right. But it’s certain that the constituency, under which Nandigram falls, will be one of the most watched among the 17 Lok Sabha constituencies going to polls in the fourth phase on May 7.

Poll pundits say the Nandigram shadow will continue to dog the Tamluk polls. Just 36 hours before the polls, the Tamluk constituency especially Nandigram appears like a battlefield. The tension has aggravated with prime contestants - CPI(M)’s MP Lakshman Seth and the Trinamool Congress’s youth candidate Subhendu Adhikari - suggesting that the election will be full of violence.

Major pre-poll violence between CPI(M) and Trinamool workers has already started in Nandigram, killing four people in the past 72 hours. Three victims were Trinamool workers, while one was from the CPI(M).

Adding tension for the district administration, the violence has started spreading in adjoining areas and to avoid its escalation, the BSF has begun patrolling.

In fact, the entire campaign focus of the two political forces is also Nandigram with a pinch of Nayachar, Nandigram’s alternative site for the chemical hub. Seth is harping on the terror unleashed at Nandigram in 2007 by Trinamool activists in collusion with Maoists. He is also projecting Nayachar as his new dream employment-generating project to garner voters’ sympathy.

 “People of Tamluk know I am a dedicated soldier of Tamluk. They know how Haldia became a dream industrial town over years. They also know how Trinamool spoilt the opportunity for Nandigram to become another Haldia just by misleading innocent farmers. Now, they are also opposing Nayachar also. The people of Tamluk will get a fitting reply,” Seth said.

On the other hand, Adhikari, whom Trinamool describes as Nanidgram’s Robin Hood, is focusing on the police firing on March 14, 2007 which killed 14. “They are trying to do the same thing at Nayachar. We will resist that as well,” Adhikari said.

Political analysts predict a neck-to-neck battle in Tamluk, with the balance slightly tilted towards Adhikari. While Seth, who won the polls in 2004, is harping on comfortable lead from the CPI(M) stronghold areas of Haldia, Moyna and East Pashkura, Adhikari is banking on Nandigram and Mahishadal. In 2004, Seth’s victory margin of 57, 380 votes was largely contributed by the then Congress candidate Sudarshan Panja, who polled 34,794 votes.