True, the land of Bhakti saint Chaitanya Mahaprabhu or for that matter Krishnananda Agambagis — the sage who gave shape to Goddess Kali’s present portrait — had never witnessed two sets of flowers, Trinamool Congress’ “Grass Flower’’ and BJP’s Lotus, involved in a dogfight as fierce as this for ‘supremacy’.
People of Krishnanagar the princely town of Bengal once ruled by the Maharaja of Krishnagar also famous for “His Excellency’s’’ his own collection of nine gems among whom Gopal Bhand (the Bengali version of Birbal of Tenali Raman) apart from terracotta toys, handloom or Tant sarees, onion, licchhi, and a green bucket full of yearly crops are literally ‘’torn between the three.’’
On one side is the wave of BJP represented by former India soccer star Kalyan Chowbey, on the other is the organisational prowess of Trinamool Congress represented by party Young Turk and on the third is the “pricking conscience’’ which is asking all and sundry to vote for the “gentleman and downright honest person’’ Shantanu Jha of the CPI(M).’’
Still Krishnagar once cultivated by State BJP president and senior advocate Jolu Mukherjee who once polled about 2 lakh votes against CPI(M)’s Jyotirmoyee Sikdar has once again woken up in revolt: against the ruling outfit.
They have however noting against Mohua Mita. “We know she is well-bred, suave, good performer, but her only drawback is that she represents a party that has not allowed us to vote freely for years, literally robbing us off our democratic right,’’ says Swadesh Roy a local retired public servant.
Amiyo Tarafdar a lawyer’s clerk in the district court said “We have been a CPI(M) voter out and out We will continue to remain so. But this time let us vote for the BJP as they can only remove this Government of the lumpens, by the lumpens and for the lumpens.’’
Like him Suprotim Jha a local bank employee is also ‘’not hopeful of the BJP. We are not fans of Narendra Modi, we know that he has no basic difference with Mamata Banerjee as a dictator. Notwithstanding we will back him because it is only through him we can express our voting rights.’’
True, perhaps that is the power of democracy, said a local auto-rickshaw driver.
But then has the Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s personal charishma no effect? Or have her schemes like Kanyashree, Rupashree, Swasthya Saathi, Sabuj Saathi — some winning international awards — lost their appeal?
“Not really,” Irfan Ali, a local Tant worker said. “Remind Nadia is the first district in the country to attain hundred percent success in ending public defecation. We have voting for her and will continue to do so because we cannot punish her for the faults done by the local level leaders. After all she herself came to us seeking votes.’’
Banerjee has twice come to the district and conducted a couple of road shows here with people pouring in from all quarters. On whether this will convert to votes, local CPI(M) leader said “even when we were in power in 2009 and 2011 we witnessed such crowds but we failed to understand that they were leaving us.’’
Silence was the best medicine, many thought perhaps. But this silence is turning out to be too deafening for the parties, experts said.
This particularly at a time of a communally polarised atmosphere. The locals said “We have never seen such a polarised atmosphere before not even during Partition. The political parties both the BJP and the TMC will answer for this as history will never forgive them.’’ It is this call of conscience from many a voter that the Marxists are banking on.