The East Midnapore soil, which ignited a land agitation in 2007 culminating in the historic toppling of the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee-led Left Front government in 2011, is holding out an olive branch to the CPM 13 years later.

At an event in Garchakraberia village on Tuesday, 130 villagers — 100 from the Trinamul and 30 from the BJP — joined the CPM, citing “dissatisfaction” with both central and state governments.

The new recruits to the CPM then took out a rally in Nandigram.

The venue was symbolic. In January 2007, Garchakraberia became the de facto launchpad of the anti-land-acquisition movement in Nandigram against the then ruling Left, when villagers clashed with the police.

The clash at Garchakraberia was the beginning of the end of the Left Front’s hold on Nandigram. The rest of Bengal followed suit.

Thirteen years later, among those who switched sides from the Trinamul was Sheikh Sabir Hossain, 30, a migrant worker. Explaining why, he said: “Our MLA is transport minister Suvendu Adhikari, but still my brother and I had to pay Rs 6,000 each to hire a truck from Nagpur to East Midnapore.” Others attacked the “partisan attitude” of the Trinamul in distributing Amphan relief.

A youth who left the BJP to join the CPM said: “We got no help from the BJP-ruled Centre for Covid and Amphan.”

An elated CPM area secretary Mahadeb Bhunia said: “These same people rebelled against us in 2007 during the land agitations. It (the change) is not just a reflection of Trinamul’s incompetence, but also a sign of revival for us.”

Local Trinamul leader and panchayat deputy chief Abu Taher refused to read much into the development.