Nanoor powers assault on red fort

TMC building base across Birbhum since 2009 lead in Nanoor; Cong eyes two seats.

In Birbhum,a district that has largely been a red citadel,the Trinamool Congress has sensed a change to green and the Congress has set out to ensure its share of the spoils.

In the 2009 Lok Sabha polls,the Trinamool Congress led in the segment of Nanoor,site of a mass killing that sparked a series of further murders. Since then,it has built on its gains and strengthened itself across the district. The party is contesting from this seat and eight others of the districts 11.

Of the two seats the Congress is contesting,one is Nalhati,which has traditionally voted Left and where debutant candidate Abhijit Mukherjee,therefore,faces a tough challenge. His father Pranab Mukherjee,usually the Congresss crisis manager,has turned to Sonia Gandhi to manage this one. She will address a rally for Abhijit on Wednesday.

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The other seat,Hassan,is already represented by the Congress and candidate Asit Mal,the partys block president,is banking on his support base.

Hassan and Rampurhat (Trinamool) are the only seats the Opposition holds in the district. The alliance itself saw bickering for seats and some resentment persists,though Mal says all that is behind them.

Months ahead of the polls,the Nanoor killings climaxed with the conviction of 44 CPM leaders and workers. Since suspected CPM supporters killed 11 labourers in 2000,their relatives fought a long legal battle for over 10 years,a period that saw 21 more murders,including those of witnesses and a probe officer. Even after the conviction,families of the victim say they keep getting death threats.

The Trinamool probably owes its 2009 lead in Nanoor segment to the work it did for these families. Leaders ensured protection for witnesses and bore all court expenses. Many villagers had moved out of Nanoor and taken shelter in other districts before they were shifted to secret shelters in Kolkata,provided by the Trinamool Congress.

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The first murder since the mass killings was that of investigating officer Suphal Ghatwal,OC of Nanoor police station. Prime witness Abdul Khaleq survived three attacks and quit the RSP,a Left party,to join the Trinamool. Sources in the Trinamool claim they have taken in at least 30,000 people from the Left since the parliamentary election of 2009.

The RSP had a very strong base in Nanoor. But after the mass murder,erosion started and most of them have started joining us. The Nanoor killings have helped us build our organisation across Birbhum, says Anubrata Mondal,Trinamool district president.