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TMC heavyweight, son face challenge from BJP on home turf
A family that boasted of victory margins getting wider in every election may encounter surprises, if one goes by the mood among the voters
“Two years ago, people would have said the Adhikari family will sail through in Kanthi and Tamluk Lok Sabha seats. Today, nobody is sure which way the wind is blowing,” says Swapan Pradhan, who sells cement statues by the side of the new asphalt road leading to Khejuri in East Midnapore district.
The two constituencies will vote on Sunday in the 6th phase of polling.
At a time when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has made dynastic rule of the Nehru-Gandhi family the focal point of campaign across India, another family that helped Trinamool Congress prosper since 2009 has become the talking point in two prominent Lok Sabha constituencies in Bengal.
Unlike any other constituency held by TMC, the Kanthi and Tamluk seats, most of the assembly segments comprising these and a many local bodies are controlled by a 77-year-old man and his three sons since 2009.
Trinamool’s Sisir Adhikari, who served as a minister in the Manmohan Singh govt (2009-2012), is the sitting MP and candidate from Kanthi. His second son Dibyendu is the incumbent MP from Tamluk and is contesting again.
Earlier Dibyendu’s elder brother Suvendu, who held the Tamluk LS seat twice resigned in 2016 to become a minister in Bengal. Dibyendu won the Kanthi South assembly seat in 2009, 2011 and 2016. He vacated the assembly seat to become an MP when his elder brother Suvendu became a minister in Mamata Banerjee’s cabinet. Sisir Adhikari’s youngest son Soumendu is the chairman of Kanthi municipality.
The Adhikari family helped Banerjee wipe out all opposition in East Midnapore. Suvendu Adhikari led the anti-land acquisition struggle in Nandigram in 2007-08 that played key role in ending the Left’s 34-year-long regime.
But this time voters and even TMC workers are saying that the Adhikaris are facing challenge because of the fast rise of BJP, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity among college-goers, infighting in local TMC units and people’s anger for being stopped from voting by armed goons during panchayat polls in May 2018.
Voters say there is a strong undercurrent that BJP, the main challenger, may gain from despite organisational weaknesses.
“Dibyendu Adhikari tried to end infighting in many panchayats but failed. On Tuesday (May 7), I saw TMC workers taking part in a BJP procession. People are angry because goons did not let them vote in the panchayats,” said Rajab Ali, who runs a tea stall beside a section of NH 116 that comes under Tamluk constituency which has a sizeable Muslim population.
“The Adhikaris have established a dynastic rule before which police and local administration have surrendered. Where is democracy? We are expecting violence on polling day. Out of desperation, TMC is trying to influence Muslim voters,” said BJP’s Tamluk candidate Siddharth Naskar for whom Modi came to campaign on May 6.
But Dibyendu Adhikari has no doubt about victory.
“TMC’s victory is ensured. We are only interested in increasing the margin,” he said. Dibyendu Adhikari, who won the 2016 by-election securing 7,79,594 votes against the Communist Party of India (Marxist)’s 2,82,066 votes. Interestingly, in that election, BJP secured more than 1.96 lakh votes, marking a 8.66 per cent rise in vote share, against the TMC’s rise by 6.16 per cent.
“This election is not about numbers but about restoring democracy,” said CPI(M)’s Tamluk candidate and Panskura MLA, Sk Ibrahim Ali.
In most parts of Kanthi, development and civic amenities provided by the state government is noticeable, admit voters. Yet, the head of the Adhikari family appeared jittery. “BJP is distributing money in match boxes. But TMC retains its position,” said Sisir Adhikari, who is campaigning only in the afternoon because of the heat.
“People, especially the youth, are with BJP because they saw how the panchyat polls were reduced to a mockery,” said BJP candidate Dr Debasish Samanta.
