Haldia’s united colours, barring red

It is a grand alliance like no other in West Bengal. A minor municipal poll in Haldia has got the Congress, Trinamool Congress

It is a grand alliance like no other in West Bengal. A minor municipal poll in Haldia has got the Congress, Trinamool Congress, BJP and Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Hind joining hands to fight a common foe—the Left Front. Not that any upsets are expected. During the 2002 elections, the CPI(M) had swept the polls 25-nil.

Despite the varied nature of the new alliance, there is hardly any complaints over seat sharing. The TMC is fielding candidates in 18, Congress in six, Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Hind’s Siddiqullah Chowdhury has put up two candidates from his People’s Democratic Conference of India and BJP in none. The latter seems happy just to be a part of the mahajot though it had polled the second highest number of votes in as many as three wards in 2002.

State BJP chief Tathagata Roy also seemed to have no qualms about siding with the Jamiat. He said: “We have not put up any candidate in the interest of the alliance. We are not a big force in Haldia.”

Therefore, what has been a successful experiment in the fight against land in Nandigram, has now been extended to politics—the grand alliance of disparate forces or mahajot.

CPI(M) state secretary Biman Bose was scathing in his appraisal of the alliance. “More and more of our opponents are becoming desperate and going in for unscrupulous alliances. The mahajot will disappear after the thrashing in Haldia,” he predicted.

The statistics supports Bose’s optimism. The CPI(M)-led Front bagged all the 25 seats last time with a vote share of 73 per cent of the total votes polled and 64 per cent of the total voters. The TMC on the other hand got 9.91 per cent, the Congress about 7 per cent and the BJP 2.5 per cent. So, even the combined strength of the three is no match for the CPI(M).

Meanwhile, the Jamiat is an interesting entry. Worryingly for the CPI(M), Jamiat’s sustained allegation that the CPI(M)’s land acquisition affected the Muslims most, has gained credence. The CPI(M), apprehensive of a possible erosion in its minority vote bank, is already in damage control mode. The Haldia municipality polls in some measure might be indicative of the minority mind.