Explainer: Is it advantage BJP in Bengal, will Sandeshkhali prove to be a Singur, Nandigram moment for saffron party

Tribune Web Desk

Vibha Sharma

Chandigarh, February 26

The Calcutta High Court on Monday asserted that there was no restriction on the West Bengal Police to arrest the absconding Trinamool Congress functionary Shahjahan Sheikh.

The court directed that Shahjahan should be arrested, as per reports.

The High Court also reprimanded the authorities for their alleged inaction regarding the allegations against him.

“A wrong impression has been created as if an interim order of stay of arrest has been given. There is nothing on record to say that such a stay is in place,” news reports also quoted the High Court as saying.

TMC general secretary Abhishek Banerjee said on Sunday that the state police could not arrest Shahjahan because of a stay order issued by the division bench of the chief justice.

Shahjahan is accused of sexual atrocities and land grab by many women in Sandeshkhali — a small island in the Sundarbans area in North 24 Parganas district, about 75 km from Kolkata.

A Singur/Nandigram moment for BJP

It was Mamata Banerjee’s participation in the Singur and Nandigram agitations that eventually led to the end of the over three-decade rule of the CPM in Bengal.

Her call of ‘Maa, Maati, Manush’ (mother, land, people) in the fight for ‘Maatir Manush’ in Singur and Nanmdigram “land-grab” cases became the centre stage of TMC poll strategy for the next elections, defeating the Communists and ending their 34-year rule in the state.

Participation in Singur and Nandigram saw the firebrand TMC supremo emerging as the champion of downtrodden and finding acceptance among people, taking over as the chief minister of West Bengal in May 2011, according to political observers.

The long-drawn movement between 2006 and 2008 against alleged “forcible” takeover of “fertile” land for Tata Motors’ Nano project and the Nandigram movement became the catalysts of her victory.

Notably, allegations against Shahjahan in Sandeshkhali also include converting fertile land into fisheries in 2019 after he was made in-charge of the district; fishery development.

“Land was grabbed in the name of lease, turning into ponds for fisheries. People were not paid the lease money. When they demanded money, they were threatened. The land of those who did not want to lease it was made uncultivable by pumping salt water,” are among the various allegations against Shahjahan and his aides. 

Sandeshkhali and BJP

The BJP, which has is going all out to corner the TMC supremo “over forcible land grab in Sandeshkhali in the Sunderbans”, is currently in the same position as Banerjee was when she led against the Left government over Singur and Nandigram “land- grab”. It is the main opposition party in the state. 

According to election strategist-turned-activist Prashant Kishor, BJP has made massive gains in West Bengal and the crisis in Sandeshkhali region is only going to benefit it further in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

“With or without (the crisis in) Sandeshkhali, the BJP has been on an upsurge in Bengal. Make no mistake,” TV channels quoted him as saying.

The BJP is a very strong political force in the state and the party will “not go below” the number of seats it won in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Analysts add Sandeshkhali and the resulting polarization will further add to the increasing anti-incumbency and other issues against the TMC.

In the 2019, TMC won 22 and the BJP 18 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state. The Congress won the remaining two seats.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to visit Sandeshkhali on March 6. Howrah's Panchla is also seeing a similar agitation.

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