Jalpaiguri, May 5: Srilal Oraon lived in anonymity and died unsung some six months, ago at age 47. But a week before the poll, he has been resurrected as the face of starvation in the tea gardens

An emaciated Oraon, bare-bodied save for a lungi, stares vacantly out of posters plastered all over Alipurduar constituency.

“See, reflect, decide. The result of 26 years of Left Front rule,” reads the message.

Party symbols do not find a place on the posters, but they urge people to cast their votes in favour of Ratanlal Baraik, the Congress candidate for the constituency.

But why did the party choose to go with pictures of Oraon over Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi or Sonia Gandhi?

“We want people to realise the pathetic condition of tea workers. Though they are aware of the failure of the state and Centre to address the problem and come up with solutions to help dying workers, we wanted everybody to see the truth as it is,” said Biswaranjan Sarkar, the Jalpaiguri district president of the Congress.

That, however, is not how the CPM looks at it.

“The Congress has used a dead man to gain political mileage. There can be nothing more shameful and the act shows that the leaders are trying to fool the public. We, however, believe the cheap stunt will not make people fall for their false promises and vote for that party,” said Manik Sanyal, the Jalpaiguri district secretary of the CPM.

Oraon’s saga can be traced back to about a year ago, when members of an NGO spotted him at Jogesh Chandra Tea Garden. He was a worker there.

The bulging abdomen, so prominent in his photograph on the posters, leaves nothing to the imagination. He was suffering from acute malnutrition and cirrhosis of the liver. He had only his wife to look after him, but in her weakened state, she could not do much.

“We took him to Jalpaiguri Sadar Hospital and made arrangements for his treatment. He was released a few days later and advised to eat a healthy diet. That was an impossibility and he died some days later, without any more treatment or food,” said Sanjoy Chakrobarty, the secretary of Jalpaiguri Welfare Organisation, one of the NGOs working in the tea gardens.

“A Siliguri-based media group used his picture to raise money to alleviate the sufferings of the starving workers and others even created a welfare fund, but no one stood by his side when he was dying. Only his wife watched helplessly,” he said. “Once Oraon died, everybody who feigned concern left, never to come back.”

The Congress, observers said, was “cashing in” on the “grotesque physique” of a dead man for political mileage.

“Such a hard-hitting image is bound to have an impact on the masses. This is a strategy that might well pay off, especially because workers of tea gardens constitute a major portion of the vote bank,” they said.

A Congress leader who did not want to be named, spoke on the same lines.

“The district leaders are banking on the Alipurduar constituency to provide them with electoral victory. Because garden workers constitute a major chunk of the vote bank here, we felt a poster, which carries the picture of a common garden worker like them, would leave a lasting impression on their minds and help them choose their leaders,” he said.

It is no coincidence that the posters occupy maximum wall-space in Hasimara, Kalchini and Hamiltonganj areas, the tea hub of Alipurduar constituency.