Mastermashai's lesson for Left

Singur: The fate of Tata's Singur plot is yet to be decided by the Supreme Court, but the mandate of Singur residents is clear with Trinamool's Rabindranath Bhattacharya toppling heavyweight CPM leader Rabin Deb by a margin of 20,448 votes.
Trinamool's victory is seen as a sign of Singur residents' gratitude towards Mamata Banerjee as her cabinet's first decision was to revert the land to unwilling farmers.The Mamata government had enacted Singur Land Rehabilitation and Development Act, but it was challenged by the Tatas. A single bench of Calcutta HC was in favour of it, but a division bench turned it down describing it as unconstitutional. The 997.11 acre plot was acquired from Kamarkundu, Gopalnagar, Doluigacha, Beraberi and Gopalnagar areas in 2006. In October 2008, The Tata group abandoned the project.
The apex court recently concluded hearing the Singur plot to decide whether land acquisition was illegal and has kept its judgement reserved. But the majority of Singur voters were against the forcible acquisition, as reflected in Bhattacharya's win. The 83-year-old former school teacher, popularly known as Mastermashai, led a humble life even after being a minister. His clean image and his connect with people have helped with his win, as has the fact that many of the voters were his students. Deb, on the other hand, is an outsider.
Bhattacharya said Trinamool was in favour of a Nano factory, but on a 600-acre plot.
What worked against Deb was perhaps his use of a Nano car during the campaign. It brought back memories of conflict at Singur and the resentment was reflected in the results. Deb also had to fight against the local CPM leadership.