Tea worry for TMC in Jalpaiguri

AVIJIT SINHA, TT, Jalpaiguri, April 15: If there is one place in all of Bengal where Trinamul is still a runner-up, it is in the Dooars tea belt in Jalpaiguri. It is also here that Opposition consolidation has worked against the ruling party well before the "Siliguri model" became the buzzword in the state.
Mamata Banerjee's party is playing on such a backfoot stance in the Dooars tea belt that its leaders have skirted gardens where the party's candidates may face questions.
There are seven seats in Jalpaiguri. In 2011, Trinamul had won two, the Left three and the Congress two.

In the 2104 Lok sabha polls, Trinamul secured a lead in five Assembly segments while the CPM and the BJP had led in one constituency each.
But since then a lot has changed. The first is the Left-Congress understanding which, some in Trinamul fear, could lead to a consolidation of Opposition votes. Second, the votes in the tea gardens that the BJP got in 2014 would swing this time.
For Trinamul, some old problems have remained. The party has been unable to get a toehold among tea belt workers. Confusing them further are the multiple tea unions.
The Left and the Congress are confident they would bag all seven seats this time, primarily because they have sensed a complete consolidation of votes at the grassroots.
"The most important development is the understanding between the Left and the Congress. Also, votes of the BJP will swing in our favour as a considerable section of voters has understood that the party is irrelevant in the state polls. Being anti-Trinamul, they will never vote Trinamul, but will vote for us," said Nirmal Ghosh Dastidar, the Jalpaiguri district Congress president.
After the 2011 polls, a sizeable portion of Congress leaders and workers in Jalpaiguri town and other parts of the district switched to Trinamul.
"This had posed a problem for Congress as they were lacking even the minimum support base in some areas. Now that the Left has joined hands with them, the problem has been resolved to a considerable extent," an observer said. "Another major problem for Trinamul is its lack of support base in the tea belt. There are at least three seats in the district where the votes of the tea population could decide the verdict."
In the Dooars, three trade unions of Trinamul are constantly fighting, instead of working together.
Over the years, it has been seen that political parties with strong trade union base have won in the tea belt. That's why in Jalpaiguri or Alipurduar, it is the Left or the Congress that has won. Even in 2011, Trinamul could not bag a single seat in the tea belt. Also, in 2014, Trinamul failed to secure lead from any of these Assembly segments which are dotted with estates. "People in tea estates felt confused as they were approached by three-four new trade unions after 2011, each of which claimed to be the authentic union of Trinamul. Even today, the ruling party has failed to float a single union," the observer said.
While north Bengal development minister Gautam Deb pointed out that Jalpaiguri district now has the mini secretariat Uttarkanya, and "unlike the Left, that spent only Rs 360 crore in 11 years, the current government has spent Rs 1,200 crore in four years for development", the thorn of closed tea gardens is still stuck in Trinamul's side.
"Trinamul candidates contesting from seats such as Nagrakata (where there are three closed gardens) have even avoided visiting these gardens," the political observer said.
The Congress's Sukhbilas Burma, the alliance's face in Jalpaiguri, said: "Some new constructions were made... Eventually, these constructions did not help improve socio-economic condition of the common people. Migration for jobs, particularly from the tea belt, is still going on and people here die of starvation."

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY OUR JALPAIGURI CORRESPONDENT