A 21-year-old massacre in the Dooars tea belt that left 19 charred to death has emerged as the key referral point for both Trinamool and the BJP during their campaigns for the November 13 bypoll to the Madarihat Assembly seat of Alipurduar.
The seat turned vacant as Manoj Tigga, the two-time BJP MLA, resigned after he was elected as the MP of Alipurduar Lok Sabha seat during the Lok Sabha elections held earlier this year.
As the TMC leaders — the party has fielded local face Jay Prakash Toppo — campaign, they refer to the massacre synonymous with Tarakeshwar Lohar, a Citu leader who was based in the Dalgaon tea estate.
The BJP has fielded Rahul Lohar, Tarakeshwar's son, against Toppo from Madarihat.
Dalgaon, a tea estate located on the outskirts of Birpara and a part of the Falakata Assembly seat, hit the headlines in November 2003 when an angry mob attacked Tarakeshwar's house while he was having a meeting with his associates.
The workers were infuriated over the alleged highhandedness of Tarakeshwar and his henchmen and protested against his alleged plan to induct some outsiders in clerical posts in the tea garden instead of local youths.
The protests turned violent and the mob ransacked his house and attacked those who were inside. People were hacked and immolated during the attack, which led to the deaths of 19 persons, including two women.
Lohar, however, managed to escape. Around seven years back, he died.
“People are well aware of the atrocities unleashed by Tarakeshwar Lohar and his henchmen during the Left rule. Now, the BJP has fielded his son. We are simply mentioning this fact to the voters of Madarihat Assembly seat,” said Prakash Chik Baraik, a Rajya Sabha member and Alipurduar district TMC president.
While the ruling party of Bengal is trying to draw support by reminding people of the massacre, the saffron camp is not lagging far behind in digging up the past.
Manoj Tigga, the local MP who also heads the BJP in Alipurduar, along with other party leaders, has been frequently mentioning the name of Robin Rai.
Rai, a former zonal committee secretary of the CPM in Birpara, was present with Lohar during the attack. After the incident, it was alleged that the duo had a close bond and they together would ensure that the CPM and its trade union wing Citu had an absolute stronghold on the tea estates of Birpara and Madarihat.
In due course, Rai joined Trinamool. Now, he is the general secretary of the Trinamool Cha Bagan Sramik Union.
“TMC leaders are raising fingers at our candidate while referring to his father. But he had no connection with the incident. Instead, the TMC inducted Robin Rai, who was also known for his highhandedness during CPM's rule, into the party,” said Tigga.
Since 2016, the BJP has won the Madarihat Assembly seat. But this time, the BJP is worried because of a decline in its lead margin from the Assembly segment at this year's Lok Sabha polls.
TMC, on the other hand, is desperate to win the seat. This is because, at the 2021 polls, the party couldn't win any of the five Assembly seats of the district.
“There are 24 tea estates in the constituency with around one lakh voters. Although the Dalgaon tea estate is in the neighbouring Falakata Assembly seat, both parties are referring to the incident as the tea population can relate to it,” said a political observer.
