Politicking has arrived with gusto in this strife-torn pocket; there are no signs it will depart anytime soon.

BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari on Tuesday made a big-bang entry into Sandeshkhali and assured villagers of his support for them, armed with a Calcutta High Court order that removed the hurdles posed by the Bengal government’s imposition of Section 144.

Adhikari, whose attempts to reach Sandeshkhali had been foiled earlier on February 12 and 15, had reached the North 24-Parganas island 80km from Calcutta again
on Tuesday morning, but was stopped by a huge contingent of police near Dhamakhali on the other side of the Kalindi river. The BJP delegation, including party MLAs Shankar Ghosh and Agnimitra Paul, were stuck in Dhamakhali for over an hour.

As the police and the BJP delegation got involved in an argument, in Calcutta a high court division bench headed by Chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam passed an order that allowed Suvendu to visit Sandeshkhali — on the boil since February 7. The BJP leaders took a motorised boat to reach Sandeshkhali.

“Our goal was to reach Sandeshkhali, from which we were not distracted,” Adhikari said.

Adhikari, who received a rousing reception on reaching Sandeshkhali, especially from women who showered flowers on him and tied rakhi on his wrist, added: Today we could reach Sandeshkhali following the historic verdict by the division bench of the Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court. Despite my earlier attempts, it was the police of Mamata (Banerjee) who prevented us illegally. I will come here again and be with you to ensure your safety and security.”

The BJP leaders spent around three hours in Sandeshkhali.

“I assure you that peace will return to Sandeshkhali,” the leader of the Opposition told a group of around 300 people who had gathered near the ferry ghat to welcome the leader by blowing conch shells.

As announced earlier, Adhikari had left Calcutta around 9.30am for Sandeshkhali, but his convoy ran into a barricade that the police had put up near Dhamakhali. The district administration had clamped Section 144 in 12 places in Sandeshkhali, including the four ferry ghats that connect Sandeshkhali and Dhamakhali, to prevent him from reaching the area.

After the court order, which was pronounced around noon, the police relented and Adhikari reached Sandeshkhali around 12.30pm.

The remote island in North 24-Parganas, which falls under the Basirhat Lok Sabha constituency, hit the headlines on January 5 when an Enforcement Directorate team was attacked by around 300 armed people — allegedly followers of local Trinamul leader Sheikh Shahjahan — when the central agency had gone there to raid his home in connection with the PDS scam.

Since then, scores of Sandeshkhali residents have come forward and complained about atrocities ranging from land grab to sexual assault, perpetrated by local Trinamul leaders like Shibaprasad Hazra and Uttam Sardar, close aides of Shahjahan, with tacit support from the police.

Hazra was the Sandeshkhali-II block president and Sardar a zilla parishad member of the party.

Adhikari, on reaching Sandeshkhali, unleashed an attack on the Mamata government and accused the ruling party of sheltering criminals like Shahjahan and many others. “I assure you that Shahjahan will be arrested. You have to fight unitedly. I will come here again,” Adhikari said while interacting with at least 50 women.

Haren Giri, a 70-year-old villager who was waiting beside a road to meet Adhikari, said: “We were all Trinamul supporters, but we got fed up with the local leaders, who inflicted so much atrocities on us. We were eagerly waiting for him (Adhikari) as he had been trying to reach us since we started protesting against the Trinamul atrocities. We have faith in him as we know that he would fight for our rights.”

As this correspondent walked through different parts of Sandeshkhali — like Kalyani Para, Patra Para and 8 No. Majher Para — and spoke to local people, scores of residents echoed Giri and the women who met Adhikari.

Sukumar Mahato, the Trinamul MLA of Sandeshkhali, said: “Whatever the BJP has been saying about Sandeshkhali is not right.... There are a few pockets on the island where they have some support base and they are using that political clout to instigate their people against our party. However, our party is firmly behind the villagers as it has taken action against errant leaders.”