Dip in Haldia vote share has Left worried

Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee was a relieved man despite the losses. For him, the victory in 19 seats is more important than the seven losses. 8220;I congratulate the people of Haldia. This is a victory for the people,8221; Bhattacharjee said.

In the 2002 municipal polls, the CPIM had won 22 seats and the CPI three, thus making a clean sweep of the 25 seats then one seat was created later in a delimitation exercise. The Left8217;s vote share was 74.78 per cent, with 55,471 votes of the total of 74,993 polled.

In this election, the Left vote share has slumped to 57.44 per cent, down by over 17 percentage points, which is a phenomenal setback for the CPIM. The Left got 51,360 votes out of the total of 89,426 polled.

While the party celebrated in Haldia, CPIM state secretary Biman Bose put up a brave front in Kolkata and said: 8220;We will go deep into the results but it is a verdict for our policy of industrialisation.8221;

A quick look at the numbers does not corroborate Biman8217;s claim: the swing against the Left is almost 8.55 per cent compared with its figures in 2002.

This time, the Haldia results have a distinct pattern. Out of the six seats won by the Trinamool Congress, five are in the Sutahata block and Assembly segment adjoining Haldia, still a rural vastness. In this rural belt of a civic area, the Left retained only two wards.

In terms of voters8217; profile, those in Sutahata are largely agricultural labourers and daily-wage earners.

The CPIM8217;s victory has come from the industrial core of Haldia town where the voters are characterised as industrial workers in the organised sector, traders and small entrepreneurs.

Underlying the Left8217;s defeat in the Sutahata segment is talk in official circles that the Left Front Government is eyeing around 10,000 acres here as an alternative to its chemical hub plan at Nandigram, which was foiled by violent opposition from local villagers.

The villagers are aware of such whispers. The outcome, therefore, is a clear signal to the Front that it might face the same resistance at Sutahata that it had faced at Nandigram if it tries another SEZ idea.

8220;Fear of losing land united the voters of Sutahata in favour of the mahajot,8221; said Suvendu Adhikari, Trinamool Congress legislator who spearheaded the Save the Land movement at Nandigram.

8220;From zero to seven seats is certainly no mean achievement,8221; said Adhikari.