Goons & autos may not sway Bengali Muslims Krishnendu Bandyopadhyay & Subhro Maitra TNN Kolkata: Autos were ferrying burqa-clad women to booths at Metiabruz. CPM youths were bringing their voters to the booths. The scene was almost the same like previous years, but the confidence was absent.“Le to a raha hay, lekin woh log kya vote de rahein hai (They might take the voters to booths, but do they vote for them)?” wondered Sheikh Taukhat, a tailor, outside the Kasab Para Primary School in Metiabruz. So, has the crucial minority vote swung away from the Left? The answer will be available only on May 16. But, on May 13, some knee-jerk reaction and some desperation on the part of the ruling CPM showed that not everything is hunky-dory with their once-captive minority vote bank. There is a sharp divide, too. Non-Bengali Muslims still find “hardly anything wrong” with CPM. But things might not be the same with their Bengali counterparts. Moinuddin Mollah, Mohammad Iqbal or Israful Gazi were enjoying a real holiday (Wednesday is the weekly holiday in this dorjimoholla). But the mood there was sharply different from that of Garden Reach, dominated by non-Bengali Muslim voters. The Bengali-speaking Muslims are struck by Nandigram, Singur or Bhangar. They are voting for paribartan (change). “This time people are talking about a change after 30 years...” mumbled Gazi. In fact, the influence of Nandigram, which is across the Hooghly, is more evident here than any other place. If many of the ostagars (master tailors) have their homes in Nandigram, the regular bus service between Metiabruz and Nandigram takes the cut pieces there for the tailors. No wonder, the sense of insecurity in Nandigram has crept into the minds of the people living here. Sensing the erosion, Mokhtars are over-active. Mokhtar, a new kid in the crime block of the port area, and his gang members, roamed about Metiabruz to beat the anti-Left voters back to their homes. When Ali Mohammad went to Maulana Abdul Bari School to vote, he found his vote had already been cast. An infuriated Ali sought an explanation from the presiding officer. Mokhtar’s boys caught him by the collar, threw him out and beat him up. “I only wanted to vote peacefully. They beat us up mercilessly. I thought I would die,” said Mohammad. From early morning, CPM did everything to mobilise its infamous election machinery in this minority belt. Its partymen almost chose their voters while removing the suspecting ones. State armed police constables and home guards manned many booths. “There is no central force personnel at some of the most sensitive booths,” alleged Somen Mitra, the Trinamool candidate from Diamond Harbour. At booths 96, 97 and 97A, at the Pachur High School were fully ‘sanitized,’ there are three polling agents — all of CPM, of course, two in the name of Independent candidates. “All are going ‘peacefully’. Same was the scene at Judge Abdul Bari School where all the five booths missed the Trinamool polling agents. Being asked, the agents, too, have to search for card in their pockets bearing the names of the Independents they are representing. At Paharpur Road, the main gate of Apsara apartment, was blocked since morning. The residents were prevented, not by force, but by intimidation. Cadres were keeping vigil by sitting idle on the ground floor. Journalists were not allowed to go in.
In crisis, CPM relies on Rajabazar voters Arnab Ganguly TNN Kolkata:
It’s around 2 in the afternoon. Halima Begum walks out of the polling booth at ward No. 29’s maternity home and clinic. The autorickshaw that had brought her to the booth is nowhere to be seen. With no other option, Halima starts walking towards her Rajabazar residence. “Woh sab mohalla ke larke hain. Auto chalate hain. Subah aake hum se kaha ki chachi aap ko booth tak pahunchha denge. Humne to socha tha wapas bhi le jayenge. Ab khud hi jana parega ((They are from my neighbourhood. Most of them drive autorickshaws. They came in the morning and said that they would drop me at the booth. I thought they would take me back as well. Now I have to go on my own),” Halima said. But the auto driver’s job was over. He had gone to some other place to bring some other voters to the booth. With padyatras and speeches over, it’s time for hardcore electioneering to ensure that none of the supporters fail to cast his vote. At the heart of the city’s minority belt, CPM went all out to woo voters. Having been on the back foot in rural Bengal ever since the Singur and Nandigram agitations erupted and a vast section of the minority community voters had apparently rejected the ruling party, Rajabazar is likely to bring the smiles back on the leaders’ faces. Voters, majority of them Urdu-speaking Muslims, turned up in large numbers at the booths to exercise their right. The majority of autorickshaw drivers being under control of the ruling party, the drivers had a busy day, ferrying supporters to the polling booths. “We have been asked to take voters to the booths. The issue of payment will be settled later,” said Altaf Hussain, an autorickshaw driver from Kadapara. Half an hour before the booths opened on Wednesday morning, CPM workers were busy at Momin High School, Baitulmal Girls High School and ward No. 29’s maternity home and clinic, mobilising voters. Autorickshaws that ply on the Mechhua, Sealdah, Rajabazar and Manicktala routes were used to transport voters — mostly women and elderly from their homes — to the booth. The distance to be travelled varied between 500 metres and a kilometre. “This year the number of booths has gone up, making it easier. Earlier, there used to be long queues. This time there was hardly any delay,” said Mohammad Bashiruddin, while coming out of Momin High School. CPM workers were busy checking whether voters were carrying their photo identity cards. Many of the voters were sent back home because they had brought old cards or had no documents at all. “Itna baar bola in logon ko. Samajhte hi nahin hain (Told him them so many times but they don’t understand at all),” said Akbar Miyan, a CPM worker at Rajabazar. “Koi dikkat nahin hai (There is no problem),” said Sheikh Mubarak, resident of Chamrusi lane. Till 1 pm, polling was brisk at all the three booths. “We are telling all the voters to display their voters identity card and the slip, so that no outsider can enter the booth. Everything is peaceful at the moment,” said Pargat Singh, the BSF official present at the booth.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Booth captured, in 15 mins
Krishnendu Bandyopadhyay & Subhro Maitra TNN
It’s 9.30 am and an unusually long queue of voters has assembled at the gates of Lenin Memorial KMC Primary school (booth 12, 12A and 34 of Metiabruz assembly segment) on Garden Reach Road. A shove here, a push there and soon, all hell breaks loose with people in the queue rushing forward, complaining that people were not moving at all. We look around for paramilitary personnel as trouble seems imminent, but there is none. This ‘sensitive’ booth is guarded only by a home-guard, an armed constable and a sub-inspector. 9.40 am: We wait for a few minutes and decide to check out the chaos inside for ourselves. But the home-guard refuses to allow us inside — despite our displaying the Election Commission authority letter granting access. The ensuing argument costs us another, very precious, three minutes. Then, he says he would take the presiding officer’s permission before allowing us in. 9.50 am: We are allowed entry. But by then, everything has been put to order. We leave the premises, but decide to stand opposite the booth and keep watch. Sher Ali, a KMC worker, says a bomb had been exploded near the gate in the morning to scare away voters. “Women are really scared to come out and vote,” he says. 10 am: We don’t have to wait for long. Groups of well-built youths start arriving at the booth in autos. Three autos come within an interval of two minutes. Though they stand in the queue, it is not difficult to understand that they are not your regular voters. Soon, they start pushing the people in front. Gently, at first. Then, it turns into a jostle. And, in a flash, people standing in the queue find these youths going ahead of them at the gate. 10.15 am: The youths start pushing their way into the booths. Police put on a show of trying to stop them, but their reluctance is clearly visible. The toughs simply make their way through. The booth capturing is complete. The policemen, who were earlier busy preventing mediapersons from entering the booths, pretend as if nothing had happened. 10.16 am: The booth is captured inside and, as a result, jammed outside. Police, with renewed vigour, start maintaining the queue of voters outside. They seem relieved that ‘line-violators’ are no more in the queue. Ironically, they are inside the booth! Now, all quiet on the election front.
It’s 9.30 am and an unusually long queue of voters has assembled at the gates of Lenin Memorial KMC Primary school (booth 12, 12A and 34 of Metiabruz assembly segment) on Garden Reach Road. A shove here, a push there and soon, all hell breaks loose with people in the queue rushing forward, complaining that people were not moving at all. We look around for paramilitary personnel as trouble seems imminent, but there is none. This ‘sensitive’ booth is guarded only by a home-guard, an armed constable and a sub-inspector. 9.40 am: We wait for a few minutes and decide to check out the chaos inside for ourselves. But the home-guard refuses to allow us inside — despite our displaying the Election Commission authority letter granting access. The ensuing argument costs us another, very precious, three minutes. Then, he says he would take the presiding officer’s permission before allowing us in. 9.50 am: We are allowed entry. But by then, everything has been put to order. We leave the premises, but decide to stand opposite the booth and keep watch. Sher Ali, a KMC worker, says a bomb had been exploded near the gate in the morning to scare away voters. “Women are really scared to come out and vote,” he says. 10 am: We don’t have to wait for long. Groups of well-built youths start arriving at the booth in autos. Three autos come within an interval of two minutes. Though they stand in the queue, it is not difficult to understand that they are not your regular voters. Soon, they start pushing the people in front. Gently, at first. Then, it turns into a jostle. And, in a flash, people standing in the queue find these youths going ahead of them at the gate. 10.15 am: The youths start pushing their way into the booths. Police put on a show of trying to stop them, but their reluctance is clearly visible. The toughs simply make their way through. The booth capturing is complete. The policemen, who were earlier busy preventing mediapersons from entering the booths, pretend as if nothing had happened. 10.16 am: The booth is captured inside and, as a result, jammed outside. Police, with renewed vigour, start maintaining the queue of voters outside. They seem relieved that ‘line-violators’ are no more in the queue. Ironically, they are inside the booth! Now, all quiet on the election front.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Polls over, but candidates brace for close finish
Subhro Maitra, Pinak Priya Bhattacharya & Ashish Poddar TNN
Malda/Alipurduar/Balurgh at/Krishnagar: In Malda North, Balurghat and Alipurduar, the battle for the ballot ended over a week back. But the anxiety of candidates — locked in a close fight till the very end — is far from over. It’s no different in Krishnagar, that went to the polls on Thursday. Though the ballot’s been cast and their fate sealed, the candidates put up a brave face, claiming to have just pulled it off at the home stretch. At Alipurduar, where a vote boycott by tribals, and Nepalis’ support to BJP has queered the pitch, all three candidates are cautious. “The poll boycott by the tribals will directly affect the Left Front vote bank. The GJM cause will also come as a blow to the ruling party. Most Nepalis used to cast their vote for the Front as well. We are therefore confident of winning this seat,” said Trinamool candidate Pawan Lakra. BJP’s Manoj Tigga, on the other hand, is banking on Nepali votes. “I will win,” he said. RSP’s Manohar Tirkey, whose seat was considered one of the most secure till the tribal boycott and Nepali desertion turned it wobbly, is putting up a brave face as well. “There hasn’t been much polling in the tea belt. But we have been compensated by strong voting in the plains. The voting percentage in villages was much higher than earlier. It should go in our favour,” he said. M a u s a m Noor, the young Congress candidate from Malda North, who was pitted against CPM veteran Sailen Sarkar, is also banking on the high 80% turnout to create an upset. Now campaigning for Somen Mitra at Diamond Harbour, Noor acknowledged it had been a tough fight but hoped to pull through with the dents she had made in CPM strongholds like Bamangola and Gajole. “Even now, I continue to get calls from womenfolk in families that have traditionally voted for CPM,” Noor said. CPM secretary Jiban Maitra, who has been rallying forces for Sarkar, dismissed any erosion in the Left vote. Acknowledging the opponent’s charm, he said people went only to “see Mausam, not vote for her”. Maitra felt Sakar would score with votes at Habibpur and Gajole, that did not go to Congress as perceived. Another Sarkar aide said the deciding factor would be an anti-minority sentiment among some Congress supporters in Old Malda. In Balurghat, Trinamool candidate Biplab Mitra is upbeat. If re-alignment of the constituency following delimitation and rift in the CPM-RSP ranks had fuelled hopes of an upset, the huge 87% turnout has given it a shot in the arm. “The voter turnout points to an anti-incumbency wave. Minorities also voted for us in large numbers,” he said. RSP leader Prosanta Majumder disagreed, analyzing the massive turnout as a revolt against the “unholy” alliance between Congress and Trinamool. In south Bengal, CPM Krishnagar candidate Jyo t i r m oye e Sikdar expressed confidence of winning by a margin of 50,000 votes. But so did rival Tapas Paul. “I am not bothered about BJP candidate Satyabrata Mukherjee eating into the Congress vote share. Of the seven Assembly segments in Krishnagar, six seats are in our grasp. Remember, we got 52% votes in the panchayat elections,” Sikdar said. Tapas Pal’s campaign manager Ujjal Biswas said the star candidate would ride votes from the minority community to win comfortably. “We don’t believe BJP will make any difference. They created some excitement in the beginning but it petered out,” Biswas said.
Malda/Alipurduar/Balurgh at/Krishnagar: In Malda North, Balurghat and Alipurduar, the battle for the ballot ended over a week back. But the anxiety of candidates — locked in a close fight till the very end — is far from over. It’s no different in Krishnagar, that went to the polls on Thursday. Though the ballot’s been cast and their fate sealed, the candidates put up a brave face, claiming to have just pulled it off at the home stretch. At Alipurduar, where a vote boycott by tribals, and Nepalis’ support to BJP has queered the pitch, all three candidates are cautious. “The poll boycott by the tribals will directly affect the Left Front vote bank. The GJM cause will also come as a blow to the ruling party. Most Nepalis used to cast their vote for the Front as well. We are therefore confident of winning this seat,” said Trinamool candidate Pawan Lakra. BJP’s Manoj Tigga, on the other hand, is banking on Nepali votes. “I will win,” he said. RSP’s Manohar Tirkey, whose seat was considered one of the most secure till the tribal boycott and Nepali desertion turned it wobbly, is putting up a brave face as well. “There hasn’t been much polling in the tea belt. But we have been compensated by strong voting in the plains. The voting percentage in villages was much higher than earlier. It should go in our favour,” he said. M a u s a m Noor, the young Congress candidate from Malda North, who was pitted against CPM veteran Sailen Sarkar, is also banking on the high 80% turnout to create an upset. Now campaigning for Somen Mitra at Diamond Harbour, Noor acknowledged it had been a tough fight but hoped to pull through with the dents she had made in CPM strongholds like Bamangola and Gajole. “Even now, I continue to get calls from womenfolk in families that have traditionally voted for CPM,” Noor said. CPM secretary Jiban Maitra, who has been rallying forces for Sarkar, dismissed any erosion in the Left vote. Acknowledging the opponent’s charm, he said people went only to “see Mausam, not vote for her”. Maitra felt Sakar would score with votes at Habibpur and Gajole, that did not go to Congress as perceived. Another Sarkar aide said the deciding factor would be an anti-minority sentiment among some Congress supporters in Old Malda. In Balurghat, Trinamool candidate Biplab Mitra is upbeat. If re-alignment of the constituency following delimitation and rift in the CPM-RSP ranks had fuelled hopes of an upset, the huge 87% turnout has given it a shot in the arm. “The voter turnout points to an anti-incumbency wave. Minorities also voted for us in large numbers,” he said. RSP leader Prosanta Majumder disagreed, analyzing the massive turnout as a revolt against the “unholy” alliance between Congress and Trinamool. In south Bengal, CPM Krishnagar candidate Jyo t i r m oye e Sikdar expressed confidence of winning by a margin of 50,000 votes. But so did rival Tapas Paul. “I am not bothered about BJP candidate Satyabrata Mukherjee eating into the Congress vote share. Of the seven Assembly segments in Krishnagar, six seats are in our grasp. Remember, we got 52% votes in the panchayat elections,” Sikdar said. Tapas Pal’s campaign manager Ujjal Biswas said the star candidate would ride votes from the minority community to win comfortably. “We don’t believe BJP will make any difference. They created some excitement in the beginning but it petered out,” Biswas said.
Friday, May 8, 2009
Tall tales about big leader, but little on the ground
AURA AND THE MAN
Subhro Maitra TNN
Few in Jangipur have seen the dhoti-kurta clad leader who dares to “take on Pakistan and fight terrorism”. Some have attended his rallies, but most have only caught fleeting images of him on TV as he holds forth on a range of issues in Delhi. Nonetheless, everyone in Jangipur — the politically indifferent housewife, the committed party worker, the underpaid bidi labourer — is taken in by Pranab Mukherjee, their ‘VIP candidate’, who is seen as an agent of change and the mediator of all good things that might happen here. None on either side of the political divide is quite sure how these myths emerged. But it was never more apparent on polling day. Thirty-year-old Hiru Das has been cycling around the constituency since 5 am, a Congress flag fluttering from the handlebar. Pointing proudly at the Tricolour, Das smiles when asked about the elections. “There is only one candidate here, Pranab Mukherjee. He is a very important person and has done a lot for the area. He has built colleges and universities for us and also built roads... and a lot of other things,” Das trails off. Mukherjee, however, has so far only been a party to the announcement that a branch of the Aligarh Muslim University will come up at Jangipur. As for “colleges and universities”, none is quite sure what Das is talking about. But the “big man” has a larger than life image. He is even credited for building embankments that will eradicate floods from the district. “He has built embankments and from this year there will be no floods or erosion. Why shouldn’t we vote for him?” asks Alema Bibi of Khargram. Alema, like her neighbour Shibu Haldar, has not seen the leader on his campaign trail. Nor heard his speeches or poll promises. She is probably not aware that no embankments have been built either, by Mukherjee or anybody else. But the aura around the leader has left her too dazed to verify facts. “He has the guts to take on terrorists. Uni khub boro manush, uni amader bhalo korben (He is a big man and will do us a lot of good),” she said. Even bidi workers, who form a sizeable section of voters, believe Mukherjee will improve their lot. With a daily earning of Rs 40 or even less, they barely manage to make ends meet. “Has Pranab babu promised you a higher wage?” The question is greeted with a look of indifference. “It’s too small a matter for him to even talk about. Let him win the seat, he will take good care of us,” said Samad of Amarpur village, who has been fortunate to see the leader in person while Mukherjee was campaigning. Golenur Bewa of Boroj village agrees. “He is the one who got the skull and bones sign removed from bidi packets and saved us from unemployment,” she says. Even the local CPM has been left searching for answers. They admit they are having to fight Mukherjee’s aura — a task for which they were not prepared. The man himself stayed away from the election hullabaloo on Thursday. He neither made a public appearance, nor a round of the booths. As the media waited at his local residence, Mukherjee refused to show up, burying himself in a book of poems. “I am a great admirer of Sudhin Datta’s poems and was reading them today,” he said.
Subhro Maitra TNN
Few in Jangipur have seen the dhoti-kurta clad leader who dares to “take on Pakistan and fight terrorism”. Some have attended his rallies, but most have only caught fleeting images of him on TV as he holds forth on a range of issues in Delhi. Nonetheless, everyone in Jangipur — the politically indifferent housewife, the committed party worker, the underpaid bidi labourer — is taken in by Pranab Mukherjee, their ‘VIP candidate’, who is seen as an agent of change and the mediator of all good things that might happen here. None on either side of the political divide is quite sure how these myths emerged. But it was never more apparent on polling day. Thirty-year-old Hiru Das has been cycling around the constituency since 5 am, a Congress flag fluttering from the handlebar. Pointing proudly at the Tricolour, Das smiles when asked about the elections. “There is only one candidate here, Pranab Mukherjee. He is a very important person and has done a lot for the area. He has built colleges and universities for us and also built roads... and a lot of other things,” Das trails off. Mukherjee, however, has so far only been a party to the announcement that a branch of the Aligarh Muslim University will come up at Jangipur. As for “colleges and universities”, none is quite sure what Das is talking about. But the “big man” has a larger than life image. He is even credited for building embankments that will eradicate floods from the district. “He has built embankments and from this year there will be no floods or erosion. Why shouldn’t we vote for him?” asks Alema Bibi of Khargram. Alema, like her neighbour Shibu Haldar, has not seen the leader on his campaign trail. Nor heard his speeches or poll promises. She is probably not aware that no embankments have been built either, by Mukherjee or anybody else. But the aura around the leader has left her too dazed to verify facts. “He has the guts to take on terrorists. Uni khub boro manush, uni amader bhalo korben (He is a big man and will do us a lot of good),” she said. Even bidi workers, who form a sizeable section of voters, believe Mukherjee will improve their lot. With a daily earning of Rs 40 or even less, they barely manage to make ends meet. “Has Pranab babu promised you a higher wage?” The question is greeted with a look of indifference. “It’s too small a matter for him to even talk about. Let him win the seat, he will take good care of us,” said Samad of Amarpur village, who has been fortunate to see the leader in person while Mukherjee was campaigning. Golenur Bewa of Boroj village agrees. “He is the one who got the skull and bones sign removed from bidi packets and saved us from unemployment,” she says. Even the local CPM has been left searching for answers. They admit they are having to fight Mukherjee’s aura — a task for which they were not prepared. The man himself stayed away from the election hullabaloo on Thursday. He neither made a public appearance, nor a round of the booths. As the media waited at his local residence, Mukherjee refused to show up, burying himself in a book of poems. “I am a great admirer of Sudhin Datta’s poems and was reading them today,” he said.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)