On Saturday night there was a hailstorm leaving behind a trail of devastation in extensive parts of Hooghly parliamentary constituency.
By Sunday, posses of Trinamool workers were reaching to help villagers repair their shattered homesteads.“We have suffered immense loss of our crops including mango, onion, jute, ladyfinger,” said Sanatan Dhara near Inchura village insisting that “at least we are getting some relief now as there are polls round thecorner otherwise even this would not have come.”
There is no Election Commission, no semblance of electoral norms, and nothing in these interior parts of the Hooghly district barely 50-70 km from capital Kolkata. Hooghly, an erstwhile Portuguese colony, has either derived its name from Hogla (a kind saline water, weed or root) or the Portuguese word Ugolin.
Apart from its Portuguese past, Hooghly’s another claim to fame or infamy, so to say, is the botched Tata Nano plant in Singur another Assembly constituency, thanks to Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee’s militant anti-acquisition policy.The district was a Marxist colony for more than three decades preceding 2011. Now the baton has gone into the Trinamool hands. Hence “no one can question whatever the Trinamoolis do!” says a fish vendor in hushed voice at Dhaniakhali market famous world over for its Tangile sarees.
The chilly terror is palpable in people’s eyes even as they refuse to share their views. “The Trinamool has banished all the Opposition parties from here. Their offices are either closed or vandalised,” says a local BJP leader adding that “I was personally asked by a Trinamool toughie not to open the party office. They are only aping the CPI(M) here but more brutally. The administration is turning blind eye to all these. We could not give a candidate in the panchayat elections.”
The State Trinamool leadership has given the local party a targeted lead of 50,000 from this Assembly seat informs a confident worker. No wonder why the name of Trinamool MP Ratna Dey Nag is omnipresent on all the walls here. Whereas, there is hardly a wall with an opposition graffiti.
In the neighbouring Pandua Assembly segment the situation is somewhat better as the area has seen some political clashes in the past couple of days implying existence of some opposition.“We have a CPI(M) MlA from here and we have to keep the grip on this seat otherwise our condition will be like that of our comrades at Dhaniakhali,” says a ‘brave’ Marxist cadre refusing however to share his name.
Curiously the BJP till recently an underdog secured about 36,000 votes from this seat in the last panchayat elections. “The party fared equally well in Saptagram and Balagarh segments,” says Brojo a BJP worker from Hariti adding, “we have to activate these local fighters to witness a surprise result.”While the Trinamool has nominated sitting MP Dr Ratna Dey Nag from seat, BJP’s has fielded senior journalist and sitting Rajya Sabha MP Dr Chandan Mitra from here. Pradip Saha a first-timer is contesting on CPI(M) ticket from here.
Hooghly has a host of electoral issues the prime being unavailability of MNREGA jobs. “most of the jobs are carried away by ruling party men. Instances galore, where a person works for 2 days and gets paid for 7 days” complains Krishna Tudu (not her real name) of Jhapantala adding “even those who have job cards have not been paid for last 4-5 months.”
Tudu’s neighbour also complains of non-availability of power “though we are entitled to get electricity being BPl card holders.”At Dumurdaha in Balgarah segment locals complain about non-existence of specialised cold storages for onion. “We are one of the major producers of onions in the State but there is no cold storage and so we have to resort to distress sale,” says a villager.
At Dhaniakhali a trader says how the local saree industry is getting hit by the absence of a railway station. “The only halt station we have 7-8 km away from the town. There is an abundant narrow gauge line in the town which can be upgraded. But nothing has been done despite repeated promises by Mamata Banerjee” says he refusing to share his name.
Complains a local at Balagarh how the villagers long demand for a railway station at Rukeshpur is falling in deaf years. “If this happens then the local population including the aadivasi areas will be immensely benefited,” he says.