Once red bastion now CPM is searching for a toehold in Keshpur

KESHPUR: In 2011, winds of change, rather Mamata Banerjee's Parivartan call, failed to make its impact on Keshpur in West Midnapore. Things, though, have since changed in this once red citadel.
The CPM had used Keshpur as the base to operate Harmaad (armed-cadre) camps during the Lalgarh movement against Maoists. Changes started in 2013, when Mamata’s Trinamool Congress wrested control over 15 panchayats in the area.

Today, the CPM is a shadow of its former self. There are 138 party offices in the area, only one is open. The open office, zonal party office Jamshed Ali Bhavan, faced six attacks in the past three years and it is almost razed. Rameshwar Dolui, the sitting MLA and CPM’s candidate in this election, is hardly able to hold campaign in parts of the constituency, explaining the current state of the party.

Dolui, a dalit leader, won in 2011 with a 33,000-vote margin. The last bastion of the CPM and its “party village” started crumbling during the 2013 panchayat election. The party could field candidates in just 10 of the total 233 seats.

The state’s ruling Trinamool Congress continued its victory in the 2014 parliamentary elections, getting a lead of 58,000 votes in the Keshpur assembly segment that comes under Ghatal Lok Sabha constituency. Tollywood star Dev aka Dipak Adhikari won Ghatal for the Trinamool.

In the past 10 years, Keshpur has set a benchmark in political violence in Bengal. The area witnessed 88 murders (51 belonged to the TMC and 37 to the CPM) in these years. Keshpur made headlines when seven skeletons were excavated from a village, Benachapra, in 2012.

The DNA tests showed the skeletons were of the TMC leaders. A criminal case against CPM strongman and former minister Sushanta Ghosh, a resident of the village, was initiated. Senior comrades including Tarun Roy, CPM’s West Midnapore district secretary, were arrested. Both Ghosh and Roy are out on bail, but are unable to visit Keshpur fearing backlash.

According to the TMC, ousting CPM from the Keshpur seat will be a symbolic victory, because the party says it will bring the end to communists in the country.

The comrades are trying hard to get control back over Keshpur. The CPM tried to open three local committee offices in the area six days back, though they had to shut down in the face of stiff resistance.

“We sent 31 comrades to Anandapur party office to open it. But the power and water connections were snapped. They were not allowed to go to the local market to buy ration. Our comrades had to sterilize water from a sewer tank and use it,” said Manik Sengupta, CPM’s zonal secretary of Keshpur.

Sengupta has been guarding the zonal office with handful of partymen for the past few days. “We are banking on central forces. If there is a fair polling, we still have chance,” said Dolui the party candidate.

Mamata Banerjee is facing some problems as well. Intra-party feuds forced her to bring Siuli Saha, the sitting MLA from Haldia, to Keshpur. Saha too has an interesting stint with the party.

Known as one of the close confidantes of party leader Mukul Roy, Saha was earlier suspended from the party. The suspension was withdrawn when Mukul Roy reconciled with Mamata Banerjee after a brief spar.

“There was a time when a distance was created between me and the party. But that is over now. Keshpur has always been one of the most difficult areas for the party too work. Didi has sent me here as she has trust on me. I will not let her down,” said Saha, while campaigning in an interior village called Madhupur.

Commenting on the issue of the CPM not being able to open its offices in the area, Saha said: “Their zonal office is open. We could have set it on fire too. But we did not do that. People hate them. They are afraid of people and not of TMC.”

Chitta Garau, a 71-year-old TMC leader in the area, added: “CPM could not form booth committees in 273 booths. We never stopped them.”

Keshpur, predominantly a rural constituency – dotted with mud huts, thatched roofs and crushed CPM offices – has now something more to show apart from huge TMC offices. An ITI college, an English medium school for Muslims, two hostels for minorities and three for tribal and dalit students are coming up in the area that is dominated by tribes, dalits and Muslims.