Constituency watch: Tough fight at Basirhat for TMC candidate pitted against twin faces of Sandeshkhali movement

Kolkata, April 6 (IANS) After winning for three-consecutive terms since 2009, this time the contest is really tough for the Trinamool Congress candidate from Basirhat Lok Sabha constituency in North 24 Parganas District.

With Sandeshkhali in North 24 Parganas District making national headlines over allegations of sexual harassment of women by a section of local Trinamool Congress leaders and also for the attack on ED and CAPF personnel by ruling party activists, the entire focus of the polls in the Basirhat constituency has shifted to that area.

There are reasons for this. First, the BJP announced the nomination of a local resident from Sandeshkhali, Rekha Patra as its candidate from Basirhat.

The inspiring journey of Rekha Patra from being the face of the movement against sexual harassment by powerful men, to becoming the BJP’s Lok Sabha candidate, has kept the focus on Sandeshkhali.

Rekha Patra hogged the national spotlight overnight after Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, called her up after her nomination was announced and addressed her as ‘Shakti Swaroopa.’

“I will fight till the finish to bring an end to the oppression and violence against women in the area which had been going on for a long time,” were her opening lines before beginning her campaign.

The second jolt for Trinamool Congress was in the choice of Left Front candidate from Basirhat, the CPI(M)’s Nirapada Sardar, who is himself a former party MLA from Sandeshkhali.

Nirapada Sardar hogged the limelight due to his attempts to organise the people at Sandeshkhali against the land grabbing and forceful conversion of farmland into pisciculture farms by suspended Trinamool Congress leader, Sheikh Shahjahan.

Nirapada Sardar was even arrested by the West Bengal police on charges of instigating the people of Sandeshkhali, only to be released soon after the Calcutta High Court slammed the cops for overreacting.

In such a situation, it is a tough task for the Trinamool Congress’ candidate Haji Nurul Islam as he has to defend his party against such charges.

There are some other factors that are going against him, as Islam is considered a hardliner.

He was the sitting Trinamool Congress Lok Sabha member from Basirhat from 2009 to 2014 but the party refused to re-nominate him in 2014 following allegations of his involvement in the 2010 Deganga riots in North 24 Parganas.

An FIR was registered against him then and Islam is contesting with the shadow of the 2010 riots still chasing him.

Another factor that is causing problems for the Trinamool Congress is the decision of the All India Secular Front (AISF) to field a candidate from Basirhat.

Political observers say that if the AISF’s Aktar Ali Biswas is able to make a substantial dent in the minority vote bank that consolidated in favour of the Trinamool Congress in the last three Lok Sabha polls, the situation will be tougher for the ruling party.

Farming and pisciculture farms are the main sources of livelihood for the people of Basirhat, which has a voter strength of over 15 lakh. The export-quality prawn and shrimps produced at Basirhat are globally acclaimed. However, at the same time, the majority of the crime in the area is also related to such pisciculture farms.