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Journalism of Courage
The winds of change sweeping West Bengal appear to have stopped short of Garbeta,which CPM cadres call the capital of Junglemahal,and which is possibly the one seat they can confidently count on.
Sushanta Ghosh,architect of the recapture of Lalgarh from Maoists,practically rules the region with a network of cadres that allegedly includes a private army. Ghosh,Minister for the Western Region Development Board,is the CPM candidate. In the past four years,Maoists have made sustained efforts to penetrate this CPM base and had a brief taste of success,till Ghosh and his army reclaimed it
Every time he has appeared in public in the run-up to the polls,Sushanta Ghoshs constant companions have been CPM strongmen Sukur Ali and Tapan Ghosh,both among the prime accused in the Chhoto Angaria mass killing of 11 villagers in 2001. Tapan Ghosh and Ali,named in the chargesheet,spent 19 months in custody before they got bail for lack of evidence. The party has put them in charge of the elections in Garbeta and Keshpur i West Midnapore.
Two days ahead of the polls,Sushanta Ghosh addresses workers at the Garbeta zonal committee office and lays out a meticulously planned routine.
One item is,In each village post a strong sentry force on night vigil. No one from the Opposition,no Maoist,should infiltrate a village and intimidate or influence voters. No one from outside the CPM should be allowed into any village.
Another item is,Designated squads should visit sector offices,election offices and police stations thrice a day for updates. And a third item says workers are not to allow any outsider near booths; CPM agents have to man booths from 1 am on polling day and take care of our supporters.
The militant approach had once made Ghosh unpopular at Alimuddin Street. After the Netai massacre,the CBI had named three of Ghosh’s close associates in the chargesheet. Ghosh earned severe criticism and the party leadership was,in fact,undecided if they should field him at all.
Eventually,the party decided it could not do without him. He had already proved his worth: after Maoists,trying continuously for years,had penetrated his territory,he stormed back with the help of his private army.
Ghosh makes no apologies. It is because of his CPM workers that Maoists have retreated,he points out; had they not been here,police and central forces would not have achieved what he and his men did. It is because of our men that the Maoists are on the back foot, Ghosh says.
Ghosh won the Garbeta seat for the first time in a 1985 by-election. Since then,he has won seven Assembly elections. In the 2009 parliamentary election,when the Trinamool Congress upstaged the Left across Bengal,it could not make a dent in the Garbeta Assembly,or anywhere in West Midnapore. All 16 panchayats under the Assembly seat are ruled by the CPM.
