Barman in his native village Bharila. Picture by Gautam Halder

Balurghat, Oct. 28: RSP parliamentarian Ranen Barman was the best bet the people of his village had. Seven years down the line, they allege the power link to Delhi has not served them any purpose.

Barman’s native village is plunged into darkness every day as the sun sets in the evening.

Murmurs of anger and frustration are slowly being heard in the remote areas of the Balurghat Lok Sabha constituency.

For people like Nakul Barman, Jotdeb Barman and Bando Oraon, who had voted him to power, Barman has become an epitome of “uselessness”.

This, they point out, is despite the fact that the MP was entitled to funds under the Local Area Development Scheme. It is an amount received by each parliamentarian every year from the Centre to develop his or her own constituency.

Bharila village, a mere 14 kilometres from here has power connections. Three kilometres to the south lies Haribansipur, Barman’s native place. The difference is that Haribansipur is still without electricity.

Barman, who catapulted to big league politics seven years ago, has a straightforward reason to offer.

“My constituency not only falls in South Dinajpur but also comprises the Gajole Assembly in Malda and the Kaliaganj Assembly in North Dinajpur constituencies. If I spend the development funds for my own home and the villages around my neighbourhood, I will become unpopular,” Barman said.

“I will begin work slowly in the area around my home and try to bring in power. After all we also have to look into the interests and shortcomings of other areas in my constituency,” the Lok Sabha member said.

Close friends of Barman in Haribansipur do not buy the argument.

“Before Ranen became a member of Parliament, there were many areas in our neighbourhood where electric poles were set up. Does he have an answer to why they were not electrified?” said Biswanath Oraon, a close friend of Barman.

“If the RSP is trying to keep a clean image by not allowing development work in their MP’s own village, let them go ahead and secure electric connections for all other homes barring that of Ranen’s,” suggested another villager, Sudeb Roy.

Both Roy and Oraon pointed out that their MP had to sit on the verandah of his house at daytime to do his paper work and meet people.

That way, a lot of time goes waste, they added.