The Hooghly river has been witness to the rich and complex history of this land over thousands of years. It has been witness to the toil, trials and tribulations of the people who have seen it all — the transformation of this alluvial tract into a rice bowl; the strategic role of the Hooghly bringing the French, the Dutch, the Danish and the English colonial powers; the steady industrialisation with setting up of the jute, cotton and paper industries.

As India faces the most crucial elections in its post-Independence history, where does Serampore find itself? Hind Motors has closed down, cotton mills are history, jute mills are facing lockdowns and so are the paper mills. This land which was once an agricultural and industrial powerhouse, attracting thousands of migrants, presents a gloomy picture today. The policies of successive central governments and the state government since 2011 have accelerated this to such an extent that a dark joke prevailing among the locals is that “the only industry flourishing today is the chop-churi industry” (referring to the endless corruption charges and Mamata Banerjees’s suggestion to youth to fry fritters as an employment option).

The land, which once attracted migrants, is seeing thousands of youth forced to migrate to Chennai, Gujarat, Delhi and Mumbai in search of low-paid, back-breaking jobs. Mega real estate barons have bought lands along the banks of the river and have been selling dreams of uber-housing for the tiny upper middle-class section of Greater Calcutta; while the majority of the people have been forced into disarray by deindustrialisation. This is the most fundamental reality of Serampore today and is affecting every aspect of life of the people here.

Whether it’s Modi or Mamata, both regimes are busy projecting minuscule welfare schemes as crumbs of bread to those whose dreams have been crushed as acts of benevolence. It’s the rightful employment, livelihood and dignity that people of this land demand and this can come only through reorientation of the policy towards industrial development and agricultural rejuvenation.

Sandeshkhali is about 110km away from Serampore; however, the horrific crimes committed there aren’t something unimaginable for the women here. In the last 13 years, a barbaric rent-seeking machinery (with cuts being demanded for the smallest of rightful entitlements) has been set in motion in the state by the TMC and it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the women bear the brunt of this assault. While very few cases are able to reach the columns of newspapers or the space of the media; women and young girls are facing barbarism almost every day with criminals calling the shots.

Whether it be the workers of the closed down factories, farmers living in uncertainty, the unemployed youth, women toiling inside and outside their homes or the students staring at crashing dreams — every section of people is realising the harshness of the times and also definitely identifying the forces responsible for it. They’re realising that neither Modi nor Mamata has it in them to improve their condition.

We’re living amidst the “Billionaire Raj” (as recent reports factually show today’s inequality levels surpassing those in colonial times) and forces like BJP and TMC are acting only to further accentuate this Raj. What the country needs is an alternative policy direction that puts people at the centre and not the corporates. Increased state expenditure to reverse the deindustrialisation and pave the way for traditional manufacturing (that guarantees permanent jobs and social security), as well as modern sectors such as IT and ITES is what the situation demands today.

Similarly, whether be it the implementation and extension of MNREGA — a historic right-based (and not a non-legislative scheme) employment guarantee that has been destroyed by both BJP and TMC --- or the struggle for similar legislation in the urban areas both require a political will which will not surrender to the fiscal deficit diktats of the corporates. The rural small-scale, home-based industries like the Saccha Zari or gold polishing need more state-sponsored cooperatives to stop mass migration from the villages and retain the sheer craftsmanship.

The people of Serampore are realising the absolute necessity of defeating both the BJP and the TMC. They have seen it all and they are the ones who will write the next chapter in the history of this great land. Hooghly shall no longer flow quietly.

Serampore votes on May 20

The writer is the CPM candidate for the Serampore Lok Sabha seat. Views expressed in this article are personal