Baharampur: The temperature is 44°C at Gorabazar in Baharampur. The roads are almost deserted. A man driving an electronic vehicle shouts, “Dada is coming.”
In moments, the roads fill up. Dada is Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Congress veteran and the leader of the opposition in the parliament.
Illustration: Pariplab Chakraborty
Chowdhury arrives in an open-roof car following an average of a hundred bikes wrapped in Left and Congress flags. He distributes chocolates to people gathered.
Elated local Sabina Sultana shouts at Chowdhury, “Don’t worry about the election, it’s really hot and you shouldn’t be out on the road. We are all with you. Stay well. ”
Another local, Saraswati Pal, garlands Chowdhury. She calls him her child.
A close connection with locals has been at the heard of Chowdhury’s four-decade-long political life. Once a four-time MP, Chowdhury is in many ways the ‘older brother’ – what the Bengali word ‘Dada’ stands for – of the Baharampur and Murshidabad area.
Chowdhury tells The Wire, “People love me and believe in me because I don’t steal public money and jump ship. The others engage themselves in divisive politics with the use of bombs and guns, and also in the name of religion. They are spreading poison and I am giving lozenges, a symbol of affection.”
Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury at the Baharampur constituency. Photo: Joydeep Sarkar/The Wire.
The Baharampur constituency is an agriculture-based commercial centre of South Bengal. But its still very far from modern amenities. Farmers of the area resent the fact that the government does not offer them what they feel is the proper price of jute. Same is the case with sugarcane and vegetables.
Animal husbandry, an age-old profession of people here, also leads to resentment. Milk and its byproducts are famous for their low prices here.
While locals feel that is a perennially ignored area, their anger does not extend to Chowdhury.
Bank employee Subir Basu says that his faith in “Adhir da” is unbreakable, “but the area is backward in rail communication, which leaves everyone at the mercy of state run buses.” Locals say that in most areas state run buses do not ply. “Despite Adhir da’s prolonged attempts, the state government is dilly-dallying in handing over land for the rail line. Recently, the problem was solved. Simply because of the election,” Basu says, adding that the Trinamool Congress government needs to intervene more in the case of education and health.
Also read: Bombs, Jobs, Left-Congress Bonhomie: The View From One of Bengal’s Most Violent Poll Seats
The TMC government has dealt with workers’ unions with a heavy hand. Women in families of which the men migrate out bind bidis – sticks of tobacco. A thousand bidis are sold for Rs 165 – an incredibly paltry sum.
Hasina Bewa of Beldanga says, “We have no platform to raise our voice now.”
Both the TMC and the Bharatiya Janata Party are desperate to beat the Congress candidate – Chowdhury.
Chowdhury’s tussle with Mamata Banerjee goes back to the days when they both worked in Congress. After coming to power in the state, Banerjee has often taken on Chowdhury in campaign speeches. Chowdhury has, in turn, proven indefatigable when it comes to alleging that the Banerjee government is corrupt.
Yusuf Pathan on the campaign trail. Photo: By arrangement.
The TMC has made cricketer Yusuf Pathan its candidate in Baharampur. But the Gujarat resident comes to the field with some disadvantages.
As TMC worker Jayanta Saha says, “All the assembly constituencies, panchayats and municipalities are in the grip of TMC, so a win was assured but Didi has selected a candidate who doesn’t know Bengali.”
Party workers are flummoxed as to why, in an area with a 52% Muslim population, Mamata Banerjee did not choose a candidate from the area. Notwithstanding this disadvantage, Banerjee has urged her party workers to summarily defeat Chowdhury this time.
Amidst this background comes the BJP, which is fighting tooth and nail to defeat the Congress candidate as well. Violence has already taken place between the two religious communities at the Shaktipur area of Baharampur. Locals, usually peace-loving, have been trying to down tone the tension in the area and bring back normalcy.
But the BJP is still regularly spreading provocative rumours, alleges a local, Madhab Ghosh. He says, “Ram Navami celebrations have ballooned. Hostilities mark our everyday now. There is no work, no earning, only fighting.” Ghosh adds that he finds it surprising that Ram Navami celebrations take place with such gusto in an area where they were largely unseen.
Baharampur BJP candidate Nirmal Saha. Photo: Joydeep Sarkar.
Meanwhile, Chowdhury’s image has been utilised to doctor a video so as to make it appear as if he is urging people to “vote for the BJP.” Bengal cyber police is investigating the case.
Congress has blamed the BJP ‘IT cell’ for the crime and asked why the TMC government is mum on the issue.
BJP has meanwhile brought out the big guns among campaigners, among whom is Uttar Pradesh chief minister Adityanath.
The BJP candidate, physician Nirmal Kumar Saha, says, “We are hopeful because so many people are supporting me. We hope Baharampur can strengthen [Prime Minister Narendra] Modi ji‘s hand!”.
Meanwhile, a huge banner reads, “Baharampur awaits Adhir.”
