West Bengal Assembly Election | High-decibel battle ground is divided into seats

Less that two decades ago, towards the end of the 34-year rule of the Left Front in 2007, Nandigram emerged not only as a sign of protest against the forced land acquisition, but also as one of the biggest symbols of communal harmony. I also came forward. Hindus and Muslims came together to protest the acquisition of land for the petrochemical hub proposed by the then government, and people from both communities united in resistance during the months-long violent agitation.

However, in 2021, when Nandigram was once again moved to the center of politics in West Bengal, the communal divide over the partition of “70 and 30” dominated the political narrative.

Months before the assembly elections were announced, the former Trinamool Congress (TMC) minister, who switched to BJP, Suvendu Adhikari indicated that the saffron party’s campaign in Nandigram would take advantage of the split.

“On whose support does she want to contest 63,000 or 2.11 lakh?” Mr Adhikari said this a few weeks after jumping ship, when Chief Minister and TMC chief Mamata Banerjee announced to contest from Nandigram.

Ms. Banerjee began her campaign on the afternoon of March 9, addressing a worker meeting in a field in front of the Nandigram police station and started her speech, asking people not to fall prey to “70 and 30 divisions.” .

For the common villagers at the rally, the numbers make little sense. However, when Ms. Banerjee began chanting the “Chandi Marg” from the stage, challenging her political opponents about the knowledge of Hindu customs, she realized that she would account for the percentage of Hindus and Muslims living in the area. Is mentioning.

Between the evening of March 9 and March 10, Ms. Banerjee had visited half a dozen temples and was actually returning from a religious program when she was injured in a scuffle, forcing her to return to Kolkata. .

‘Wrong Mantra’

According to the state BJP leadership, Ms. Banerjee’s rival, Mr. Adhikari, visited 20 temples in Nandigram in the last few days. On Wednesday, Mr. Adhikari said that Ms. Banerjee had uttered “the wrong mantra” at a public meeting on March 9 and accused her of “trying to be a fake Hindu”.

The former aide recorded a political rivalry recording the Chief Minister’s speech and said the mantras were wrong. The former minister accused the Chief Minister of stopping Saraswati Puja and Durga Puja.

Immense prevail

Despite the high decibel campaign, political commentator Biswanath Chakraborty said that there is little evidence of communal polarization in Nandigram and the adjoining Medinipur district.

“I cannot remember any communal riots in Purba Medinipur in recent times. The Trinamool Congress should not fall into the trap of the BJP and speak about partition. This type of campaign may work in Malda and may occur in parts of Howrah but not in Nandigram. However, he also said that such a campaign would get an election only because Nandigram has become a high-stakes battle ground since the election.

Communist Party of India (Marxist) candidate from Nandigram, Minakshi Mukherjee said that the visit to the temple was an attempt to polarize the electorate, but the people of Nandigram are aware that they should not fall into this trap.

“If there is no history of communal polarization in Nandigram, then it will not have a future where people will vote on communal basis. The young CPI (M) leader said that leaders of BJP and Trinamool Congress can visit more and more temples, but they cannot question how many jobs and employment opportunities they have created.