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    A prestige battle for Trinamool Congress' heir apparent

    Synopsis

    Modi and Banerjee are scheduled to address rallies today & expected to escalate war of words

    3
    Mamata Banerjee
    PURULIA: People say the star campaigner in West Bengal’s Ayodhya is Ram and not PM Modi. In this western-most constituency of the state, ‘Jai Shree Ram’ reverberates most. According to local BJP leaders, Modi is a ‘political representation of Ram’ for Purulia.

    The constituency, surrounded by Ayodhya hills and thick forests bordering Jharkhand, is dominated by tribals and Kurmi (Mahatos) community.

    Even though Forward Bloc and Congress have represented the seat, Purulia is witnessing a fight between the Trinamool and BJP this time, pushing AIFB and Congress to the fringes.

    Maoist violence was commonplace till 2012. It made headlines six years later after a communal riot, post-Ram Navami celebrations in 2018, followed by a ‘saffron surge’ in the once Left bastion. Like some other areas in Jungle mahal , Purulia may have shocked the Trinamool when BJP won 645 panchayat seats out of a total of 1,943 seats.

    The Trinamool won 863. An agitated Mamata Banerjee restructured her party organisation and handed over charge of the district to nephew Abhishek. The Lok Sabha election, hence, will be a political test for Trinamool ‘heir apparent’ Abhishek.

    Purulia saw three suspected political murders in the last eight months.

    First was Trilochan Mahato, 19, a history student in Balarampur College, whose body was found hanging from a tree. Next was Dulal Kumar, 28, whose body was found hanging from a power transmission tower. Most recently, the body of another 20-year-old, Sishupal Sahis, was found hanging from a tree near his village. All three were BJP supporters and were abducted the previous evening. However, Trinamool members say post mortem reports have proved these were suicides.

    “CID arrested four people but all were out on bail and back in the village. They threatened to kill us in broad daylight. We wanted a CBI probe.

    We met Amit Shah and Rajnath Singhji,” said Trilochan’s elder brother Vivekananda Mahato. He and Dulal brother Krishna Pada Kumar were given the offer to join Trinamool and promised a job and Rs 8 lakh, but both refused to quit BJP.

    In Purulia assembly segment, there are more BJP flags while some other segments remain the stronghold of Trinamool. BJP’s fortunes, like in other places, depend heavily on the vote share of the Left. “Most workers and leaders of the Forward Bloc joined BJP last year. We can never work for Trinamool. Left parties are almost irrelevant now,” said former AIFB leader Bhajahari Garai, who is in charge of Balarampur.

    4ET Bureau

    In a contest of Mahatos, Trinamool MP Mriganka Mahato faces BJP’s Jyotirmay Mahato, Congress’ Nepal Mahato and AIFB’s ex-MP Bir Singh Mahato, who won the seat in 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2004. The district has over 40% Kurmi population, 7% Muslims and rest tribals. Trinamool won 39% votes, AIFB 26%, Congress 21% and BJP 7% in 2014.

    The seat has already seen campaigning from Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and BJP chief Amit Shah. Modi and Banerjee are scheduled to address election rallies on Thursday and expected to escalate their war of words.

    Trinamool district chief Shantiram Mahato says: “We will win with a greater margin this time. BJP had tried to divide the region on religious lines, but we have gained control,” said Mahato. Several missionary organisations work in Purulia and it led to RSS paying attention to the area.


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