Mamata Banerjee on Monday made her first visit to Sandeshkhali since the January-February unrest against alleged land-grab and sexual harassment by local Trinamool leaders, but remained largely silent on these accusations except making general statements about the BJP’s “big game” and “lie”.

The chief minister, making a pre-bypoll visit, seemed to make an oblique allusion to the charges of local Trinamool activists summoning women to the party office at night: she told women “not (to) go if someone calls them”.

She entirely sidestepped the land-grab allegations, although sources in her party and government said these plots — large tracts of fertile land converted into fisheries — were being quietly returned to the rightful owners.

Mamata focused her visit on development, announcing 66 new projects worth
₹163 crore.

She seemed to suggest that talking about the allegations and unrest — which had grabbed the national spotlight and given the BJP ammunition against her in the run-up to the general election — would amount to staying a prisoner to the past.

“I don’t want to hold on to the past… (or) keep those things in mind. I want Sandeshkhali to progress, and local girls and boys to prosper...,” she said.

Sandeshkhali, a Sunderbans island around 80km from Calcutta, had witnessed protests over the land and sexual harassment allegations against (now suspended and arrested) Trinamool strongman Sheikh Shajahan and his aides, such as Uttam Sardar and Shibaprasad Hazra.

Although Trinamool did act against the accused, the chief minister repeatedly stressed on Monday — as she had done before — that the turmoil was engineered by
the BJP.

“I am aware that a big game was responsible for the disturbance, and a lot of money was at play. The people later came to realise that the whole thing was a lie. The truth will always come out, eventually,” she said at a state government event on the Mission Ground in Sandeshkhali.

While the saffron ecosystem right up to Prime Minister Narendra Modi had latched on to Sandehkhali as the BJP’s foremost poll plank in Bengal, Trinamool swept the general election in the state, winning 29 of the 42 seats.

It won the Basirhat Lok Sabha seat, within which the island lies, by 3.3 lakh votes. However, as Opposition leader Suvendu Adhikari underlined on Monday, the BJP had led by 7,000 votes from the Sandeshkhali Assembly segment.

Basirhat is likely to have a by-election soon, MP Haji Nurul Islam having passed away in July. Suvendu has a rally lined up on Tuesday.

“I will ask you to live in peace, live together in harmony. Stay aware, be alert of the mischievous…. Women must not go if someone calls them,” the chief minister said.

Some local women had alleged during the agitation that they used to be called to the local Trinamool office late at night to “serve” the leaders.

“You are aware of the BJP’s conspiracies, they have money. But don’t touch the BJP’s money… it’s illegitimate and does not belong to the masses,” Mamata added.

Trinamool sources acknowledged that the land-grab allegations were correct.

“While there can be doubts about the sexual crime allegations, there’s no doubt that many parcels of lands were grabbed by some of our leaders, which she chose to remain mum on. But, it’s with her initiative that those plots are now being returned after proper investigation,” a Trinamool insider said on Monday.

A Calcutta-based political scientist said Mamata’s sidestepping of the controversial issues was “not the worst of political moves on her part”.

“She doesn’t want to open that can of worms now, with Suvendu’s visit to Sandeshkhali slated for Tuesday. Instead, she played the development card -- a pragmatic move,” he said.

Sandeshkhali hit the headlines in January when an Enforcement Directorate team was assaulted as it attempted to raid Shahjahan’s residence in connection with alleged corruption in the public distribution system.

Subsequently, many local women claimed that Shahjahan and his aides had captured vast swathes of land and harassed them sexually.

However, Trinamool flagged several videos that appeared to suggest that a local BJP leader had got several women in Sandeshkhali to sign blank sheets on which complaints of sexual crimes against Trinamool leaders were later written.

In one of the videos – none of which was independently verified by this newspaper – a man resembling the BJP’s mandal unit chief, Gangadhar Kayal, appeared to acknowledge a conspiracy by the leader of the Opposition, Adhikari.

In another, a man resembling Kayal purportedly said that over 70 women had received ₹2,000 each for participating in anti-Shahjahan protests.

Apart from the 66 projects she announced, Mamata on Monday declared plans for a new district and subdivision to ease administrative processes for residents, a new bridge connecting the Bermajur I and II gram panchayats in Dhupkhali, and the doubling of the Sandeshkhali rural hospital’s capacity from 30 beds. She also declared a new round of Duare Sarkar in the area in late January.

“Lack of development was the real bone of contention in Sandeshkhali. The benefits of government-sponsored schemes were being withheld by some of our leaders,” a Trinamool politician said.

Earlier in the day, Trinamool scored a small victory in Sandeshkhali when Sujoy Mondal, considered a key figure in the February protests, joined the party.

Adhikari slammed Mamata’s speech and played down Mondal’s act of joining Trinamool.

“The people of Sandeshkhali are not with Mamata. We secured a lead of 7,000-odd votes from Sandeshkhali (Assembly segment) in the general election, and we aim to maintain that,” he said.

He said he would visit the island to assess any threats faced by residents.

Suvendu alleged the crowd at Mamata’s meeting was made up largely of outsiders, brought in through bribery or coercion.