One of the postcards sent by the CPM. Picture by Arup Sarkar

Durgapur, June 19: The telegram is nearing death but a monolith that has fallen on hard times has revived another mode of communication gasping for life — the postcard.

The CPM in Burdwan, once a Left bastion, is sending postcards to voters in a Trinamul stronghold after failing to campaign there because of “intimidation” by the ruling party.

CPM leaders said the party had taken the decision to write to voters in Jemua as it was not possible for cadres to go to each and every household and campaign for the rural polls.

On each postcard, the CPM apologises for failing to meet the voters personally and accuses Trinamul of creating terror and not allowing the Left to campaign. The letter then appeals to villagers to vote for CPM nominees.

Sources said around 25 CPM workers had been asked to each write at least 20 postcards a day.

The party has purchased 5,000 postcards. Post office employees said they could not recall the last time such bulk purchase of postcards had been done.

According to sources, the CPM had to buy the cards from four post offices in Durgapur as one office did not have so many cards.

“I can’t remember the last time I sold so many postcards in a day. I was surprised when a young CPM cadre came to my office and asked for 5,000 postcards,” said an official of Bidhannagar sub-post office.

“We had only 600 cards as nobody buys them these days. The youth bought all of them for 50 paise apiece. I have no idea what he will do with them. People these days are used to sending text messages and emails. The days of letter writing are long gone,” the official added.

A CPM leader sounded equally baffled when asked why the party did not consider sending telegrams, a service that will be discontinued from July. Told that the CPM could have given the telegram a befitting send-off had it chosen the service, a CPM leader in Burdwan looked startled and said: “We did not consider this. Nobody uses the service these days. Besides, postcards are much cheaper.”

The Burdwan CPM alleged that most party workers in Jamui had to flee their homes after Trinamul came to power two years ago, a charge the ruling party rubbished.

“Some of those who dared to stay back are being beaten up whenever they go out for campaigning or to write poll graffiti. This prompted us to write letters to villagers and seek their votes. Free and fair polls will be possible only if armed police forces are deployed,” said Pankaj Roy Sarkar, the CPM secretary of Durgapur’s Bidhannagar-Jemua area. He said the idea to send postcards was his.

The CPM has failed to field candidates in four gram panchayats, one panchayat samiti seat and one zilla parishad seat in Jemua because of alleged Trinamul terror.

Told about allegations of intimidation, the Trinamul president of Burdwan (industrial), Apurba Mukherjee, said, the party “did not need to unleash terror because people are with us”.