Chief minister and MLA-aspirant from Nandigram Mamata Banerjee held a public outreach here on Tuesday evening, after a meeting with Trinamul workers, a day before she files her nomination papers in Haldia.
Nandigram, once the pivot of the anti-land acquisition movement that catapulted Mamata and her party to power in 2011, is now again the focus of this crucial Assembly elections, as Mamata takes on her trusted lieutenant-turned-bête noire Suvendu Adhikari of the BJP.
Mamata toured Nandigram for nearly four hours, paying visits to temples of sentimental value, at least two Shahid Bedis, sites of remembrance for those killed in the 2007 land agitations, and an Islamic shrine.
Her multi-layered tour of the area comes soon after BJP neo-convert Adhikari shifted his voter registration to Nandigram from Haldia and declared he would “wait in line with people” to vote on April 1, the day Nandigram goes to polls in Bengal’s eight-phase polls.
After ending her speech at Battala around 4pm, Mamata and a contingent of district leaders first went to the Basuli and Singha Bahini temples at Sonachura, some 16km from Battala, where the chief minister made offerings of fruits and vestments.
Thereafter, they paid tributes at the Gokulnagar Shahid Bedi which marks the spot where land agitators in March 2007 lost their lives in clashes with the police.
The entourage then proceeded to Chandimatha temple in Tekhali, the village where Mamata first broke news of her candidacy at a meeting on January 18, and were greeted by more than 1,000 cheering supporters. Widespread cries of “Didi we are with you”, alluding to the air of rivalry with Adhikari, were rife in the air.
She then proceeded to the day’s second Shahid Bedi in Maheshpur’s Karpalli to pay her respects. The contingent visited a Sitala Mandir in Parul Bari and an Islamic shrine where the CM laid a scarf.
The chief minister also made tea for people at a stall in Nandigram town at 6.30pm and ended the day at the Janakinath temple in Reyapara.
Religious symbolism was rife through the day as Mamata also made a notable change of itinerary in deciding to spend the night at a home in Reyapara, a Hindu-dominated area, that the party has leased for a year. Sources said earlier plans were for her to stay in Battala, a minority area.
Speaking to residents, she even pointed out “there is a Shib Mandir right by the house I am staying in,” making it clear that her plans for the constituency have to do with appealing to the “homegrown” sentiments as much as to ensure that Adhikari, with the polarisation card of his party, does not swing the Hindu vote.
Mamata also declared on Battala earlier on Tuesday that she would build a small home in Nandigram this year. Trinamul block president Swadesh Das said Mamata had “won Nandigram’s heart” following her Tuesday tour.
