Scene I: Ramesh Chandra Sarkar, the vice-chairman of the Left-run board of Tufanganj municipality, is at home. The moment he sees this correspondent, he says: "Come in quickly. Please park your vehicle a few metres away. I will be in trouble if Trinamul workers see me speaking to the media."

 

Scene II: Arun Chowdhury, the vice-chairman of Mathabhanga municipality, nods his head in despair. Sitting in the CPM party office in Mathabhanga town, Chowdhury says: "None of our candidates could go out to campaign with supporters. Trinamul has posted cadres on each road and street who are blocking us. Our candidates can only visit households."

 

The Left in Mathabhanga and Tufanganj are pinning their hopes on one thing alone - Trinamul faction feuds and possible adverse effect on the ruling party because of such fights.

The situation in the CPM camp is a pointer to near obliteration in the April 25 elections to the two municipalities. Both outgoing boards were with the CPM.

"These towns were strong fortresses of the CPM. But since 2011, there has been a 180-degree change in the political scenario. The CPM used to run the show then, and now there has been a role reversal. Only four-five years back, the Trinamul leaders used to lament in the manner the CPM is doing today," a political observer said.

Mathabhanga and Tufanganj, both in Cooch Behar are 75km from each other. Mathabhanga, which is close to the India-Bangladesh border, is 45km from Cooch Behar town, Tufanganj 25km.

Arun Chowdhury, the vice-chairman of Mathabhanga municipality and a CPM leader, said: "People are frightened and we doubt how many of them will turn up to vote on April 25. In every nook and corner of the town, Trinamul has kept 15-20 youths posted, who are sitting hawk-eyed and are quick to react in case they find any of us campaigning in the wards."

He added: "There is information that the ruling party is also using money power to lure voters."

He seemed to be interested in Trinamul's in-party fighting.

"The feud among different lobbies of Trinamul is persistent. Whatever little scope we are getting to contact people, we are highlighting the differences within Trinamul. People have understood that such inner-party rivalry will affect development in Mathabhanga. It is unlikely that they support the party. But, as we said earlier, it all depends on whether people can vote peacefully."

Rabindranath Ghosh, the Cooch Behar district Trinamul president, rubbishes Chowdhury's claim.

"Having multiple lobbies is common in a rightist party, but leaders of all lobbies are striving together to secure the civic board in Mathabhanga. The CPM leaders have realised that they do not have the bare minimum support and have accepted defeat. But to conceal their shortcomings, they are blaming us."

Mathabhanga, where elections will be held in 12 wards, lacks proper drinking water supply. An auditorium planned many years back stands unfinished. The drainage system is inadequate and garbage cleaning is not good, say a section of voters.

Trinamul leaders, who were in the Opposition in the outdoing board, allege that many ponds in the town were filled up during Left rule.

"The Left civic board could not build decent roads and drains. Whatever has been done in the town in the past four years was done by the north Bengal development department. The state forest minister (Binoy Krishna Burman) who has been elected from the Mathabhanga Assembly seat is also putting in effort for development of the town. It is unlikely that people will vote the Left back," said Kalyani Poddar, a district Trinamul leader based in Mathabhanga.

The town is ringed by four rivers, and every year Tufanganj town and villages near it get inundated whenever there is heavy rainfall. This is persistent grievance against the civic board.

"The Left board, despite being in power since 1995 when the Left government was in power in the state, could not do anything to save the town from waterlogging. The drains are not adequate to flush out accumulated water. Those who ran the civic body could not bring any additional funds or did they take up any project to build embankments to stop river water from spilling over and flooding the town," said Rajib Saha, a shop owner of the town. "The other civic services of the town are also in a shambles."

Ramesh Chandra Sarkar, the vice-chairman of the Left-run board of Tufanganj municipality, has his answers ready. But his reply makes it clear that the Left board has not been able stop waterlogging in the town in all these years.

"It would be wrong to say that the entire town goes under water," Sarkar says. "Two-three wards get flooded, that also for a few hours. In our tenure, we have built roads and drains, put up streetlights and have readied a dumping ground. But the new state government did not provide us funds to build an overhead reservoir," he added.

Fazle Karim, the block Trinamul president of Tufanganj, says voters are fed up with the CPM's inaction.

"Tufanganj was one of the strongholds of the Left Front. It is true that people have started switching to Trinamul since 2011. Here, the urban voters are irritated that civic amenities have not improved in the past 20 years. Instead, problems like traffic congestion have started because of lack of planning. On the other hand, they have witnessed how Rabindranath Ghosh has used PWD funds to build and improve the roads. This is why they are desperate for a change and are supporting us. Such negative reactions among urban voters has left CPM in such miserable condition."