Gaffar Mollah in 2006

Calcutta, Aug. 26: The acrimony of Nandigram and Singur has given way to political harmony in Vedic Village but for a discordant note from an unexpected quarter.

Neither the Trinamul Congress nor the CPM has yet raised their voices on the Vedic Village flare-up and allegations of forcible land acquisition.

On the other hand, language expected from the usual crusaders for land rights has flowed from the lips of state home secretary Ardhendu Sen, known to be an acolyte of chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee.

Words such as “land mafia” and “acquisition at gunpoint” were uttered over the past few days by Sen, not by Mamata Banerjee or by Abdur Razzak Mollah, the land and land reforms minister who cast himself as a vocal critic of the acquisition policy at cabinet meetings and is portrayed by others as a future contender for bigger responsibilities.

Bengal’s land boot has shifted to the other foot, to the chagrin of some and the mirth of others.

“A lot of big fish are involved… I will speak out when the time is right,” Mollah told The Telegraph today.

If Mollah is planning to cast his net wide near Vedic Village, he should hope that his trawling abilities are as poor as the land management skills of his department. Otherwise, the net is certain to trap both CPM and Trinamul fish.

Ask Mrityunjay Gour, a CPM supporter sitting in a party office in Shikharpur near Vedic Village, the reason for the silence by the key parties at a time grievances over land acquisition have changed the political wind.

He smiles and says: “If the Trinamul leadership or our leaders start agitating against the project and the project gets scrapped, do you think people will hold the flags of their parties? All parties have benefited from the project.”

Gour supplies sand to construction sites coming up along the road leading to Vedic Village. The middle-aged man, in white kurta and pyjama, had also supplied sand when construction was at full swing at the resort. “I got contracts because I had party connections,” he said.

The list of beneficiaries does not include CPM cadres alone. Arabul Islam, Trinamul’s MLA from Bhangar, said his brother Khude Mollah was on Vedic Village’s payroll.

“Khude is an employee of Vedic Village. The village authority has employed around 500 local youths with allegiance to different political parties. My brother is one of them,’’ the Trinamul MLA said.

Raj K. Modi, the chief of Vedic Realty, debunked suggestions that the project showered benefits on those with political connections to ensure patronage from all sides. “We wanted to give employment opportunities to local people irrespective of their political affiliations,” Modi said.

Examples of beneficiaries with political connections abound in the five mouzas — Bagu, Shikharpur, Bajetaraf, Uriapara, Uttor Gazipur — around Vedic Village and adjoining areas.

Dipankar Naskar, a nephew of Dolly Naskar, the panchayat pradhan of Chandpur gram panchayat, has bagged the contract to develop an 80-bigha garden for Vedic Village.

Similarly, Rahman Molla, 36, has got the contract to supply stone chips for two years at Vedic Village. Overseeing the unloading of a truck, he admitted that his father was close to Rabin Mondol, the CPM MLA from Rajarhat.

“Everyone knows that I am a Trinamul worker and my aunt is the panchayat pradhan,” said Dipankar, before getting into his brand-new hatchback for a business trip to East Midnapore.

“There is nothing wrong in people giving up their land voluntarily…. But the problem here is a lot of people had to sell their land under duress and no political party came to their rescue,” said a schoolteacher.

While police are looking for Gaffar Mollah, a local tough who had allegedly coerced people to sell land for the project, the schoolteacher said several land sharks were active in the area and they had political patronage.

Trinamul sources said Mamata was apprehensive that an aggressive agitation might boomerang on her party. “Didi is annoyed with MLA Arabul Islam and has asked him to keep mum,” said a Trinamul source.

“Party leaders like Mukul Roy and Subrata Bakshi (the party state president) have told me to keep shut as the leadership will deal with the CPM’s mud-slinging against me,’’ Islam said.

CPM leaders, too, face a similar predicament. Local party leaders conceded that deep digging would not stand them in good stead. They referred to a thorny issue: Mollah’s land and land reforms department had agreed to an out-of-court settlement with the Vedic promoters, bailing them out of legal complications.

Besides, the government is also joining hands with Vedic Realty to develop an integrated IT township over 1,600 acres. “The issue is likely to be discussed in the party state committee,” said veteran CPM leader Benoy Konar.