Seth: Testing times

Haldia, July 20: The Left Front had bagged all 25 seats in Haldia municipality five years ago, but a united Opposition hopes to cash in on the turmoil in neighbouring Nandigram and turn the tables.

The civic body, formed 10 years ago, is going to polls on Sunday.

Campaigning, during which industrialisation and land acquisition were the issues most discussed both by the front and the Opposition, came to a close this evening.

“We are confident of giving a tough fight,” said Subhendu Adhikary, the Trinamul MLA from Contai (South) who has been one of the main forces behind the alliance with the Congress and the Jamait Ulema-i-Hind.

In Calcutta, Jyoti Basu said: “I don’t know whether the Opposition will draw a blank this time, too. But I’m sure we will win. They’re opposing industrialisation. So, the people will reject them.”

The Opposition has never won Haldia. In 2002, the CPM won 22 seats and the CPI three. The Congress and Trinamul fought each other then.

This time, Trinamul is contesting 18 seats, the Congress six and Jamait two. The CPM has fielded candidates in 23 seats and left three to the CPI.

The municipality has 26 wards now.

However, the SUCI, which was with the Opposition in the anti-acquisition movement, has put up three candidates.

The success in the May municipal poll in CPM stronghold Panskura made cobbling a Trinamul-Congress alliance here easier.

According to some residents, Sunday’s election would be a “test’’ for Haldia strongman Lakshman Seth, who was labelled the “mastermind of the Nandigram killings” by the Opposition.

“Lakshmanbabu’s bid to identify land for a special economic zone in Nandigram led to the villagers’ unrest, police firing and deaths. The people are angry,’’ said Bijoy Manna, a resident of Sutahata in Ward No. 1. Nishikanta Bera of Rajarampur in Ward No. 4 endorsed his view.

Trinamul MLAs Partha Chatterjee and Saugata Roy skipped civic issues altogether in their campaign.

Seth had lost the 1996 Lok Sabha election to the Congress when land acquisition for Haldia township had become an issue. In Assembly polls that year, the Congress also bagged Sutahata.

The Haldia Development Authority, headed by Seth, issued a notification in December identifying the Nandigram mouzas to house the special economic zone (SEZ). The notification had to be scrapped under instructions from the chief minister as violence in protest against it spiralled.

The SEZ is now likely to be built somewhere in Haldia.

“Lakshman Seth is trying to grab the land of poor farmers. So we are trying to mobilise public opinion against him,” said Adhikary.

The residents of the township, though, had no doubt about the need for industry.

Seth insisted that Trinamul’s campaign would not have any impact. “The Opposition doesn’t have teeth here. They are bringing outsiders to campaign,” he said.

Seth’s wife, MLA Tamalika Panda Seth, is the chairperson of Haldia municipality.