How four graves in Uttar Dinajpur fuel TMC vs BJP war, deepen poll faultlines

The Rajbongshi community, listed in the Scheduled Caste (SC) category, is based in multiple districts of North Bengal, including Uttar Dinajpur, where they hold significant influence in several Assembly constituencies.

About 50 kms from Kaliaganj, in Daribhit village in the Islampur constituency, lie two more graves, where the bodies of local youths, Rajesh Sarkar and Tapas Burman, were buried. They were killed in an alleged police firing near Daribhit High School on September 20, 2018, after several villagers held a violent protest against the recruitment of Urdu and Sanskrit teachers in the school instead of science teachers which they demanded.

In both these cases, the families of the deceased have chosen to bury their bodies instead of cremating them as they have stuck to the demand for a CBI probe into their deaths, believing that the bodies may have to be exhumed in the event of such an inquiry.

These graves have come into focus, among other issues, in the run-up to every Lok Sabha or Assembly election in the state in recent years, especially in Uttar Dinajpur, as the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the principal Opposition BJP play blame game over it, engaging in a slugfest.

The BJP always kicks off its campaign in Uttar Dinajpur from Daribhit, with the district now headed to the Assembly polls in the first phase on April 23.

“In every election, BJP starts its campaign from here (Daribhit),” says Nilkamal Sarkar, father of the slain youth Rajesh Sarkar. “This time, too, BJP candidate (from Islampur) Chitrajit Roy visited us and paid respect to the graves before starting his campaign. We went with him for campaign that day. We believe that without poriborton (change in regime) we will not get justice. That is why we are with BJP.”

The BJP has arranged for a job for his younger son in the state Assembly.

“In 2016, Kanaia Lal Agarwal contested as a Congress candidate and we all voted for him. Then he joined TMC. In 2018 our children were killed following a protest in the Daribhit school. All they wanted was science teachers instead of Urdu and Bengali teachers in the school. In 2019 Lok Sabha polls, we supported BJP in Raiganj, whose candidate defeated TMC’s Kanaia Lal. In 2021 Abdul Karim Chowdhury of TMC became MLA from Islampur. But this time Kanaia Lal is contesting from here on TMC ticket,” says Nilkamal.

The families of the slain youths had moved the Calcutta High Court to seek a central agency’s probe into their killings. In 2023, the court ordered a National Investigation Agency (NIA) probe. “Now NIA is probing the case, but nothing much has happened,” says Nilkamal.

In Sahebghata, the victim girl’s mother says, “We have kept her buried because we want a CBI probe. The prime accused is in jail but other accused are out on bail. But I have got support from the TMC – they have kept in touch with us.” Her husband works as a daily wage labourer in Nepal.

Mrityunjoy’s mother Jyotsna Burman, 66, says she continues to be haunted by the April 26, 2023 night when her son was shot dead during the police raid. “Kartick Chandra Paul (Raiganj BJP MP) helped us a lot when Mrityunjoy died. Suvendu Adhikari (state Leader of Opposition) also came here and assured us that he will go to any extent to ensure justice for us,” she says.

“I have no faith in the ongoing CID investigation. We want a CBI inquiry and have also filed a case in Calcutta High Court. But justice still eludes us. We have kept Mrityunjoy’s body buried, hoping one day a central agency will exhume it for another round of post mortem,” says Jyotsna. The BJP has also arranged for a job for Mrityunjoy’s wife in the state Assembly.

Of the nine Assembly seats in the Muslim-dominated Uttar Dinajpur, the TMC had won 6 as against the BJP’s 3 in the 2021 polls. However the BJP’s Raiganj MLA Krishna Kalyani later defected to the TMC and won the seat in a 2024 bypoll on the latter’s ticket. This time, he is again contesting as a TMC candidate from Raiganj, where the BJP’s Kaushik Chowdhury, the Congress’s Mohit Sengupta, and the CPI(M)’s Kibananda Sengupta are in the fray.

In both 2019 and 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the TMC lost to the BJP in the Raiganj parliamentary seat.

In the upcoming Assembly polls, observers say, the BJP and the TMC may also have a “close fight” in Kaliaganj, which the BJP had won in 2021, and Islampur besides Raiganj.

Significantly, unlike the Muslim-dominated Murshidabad and Malda districts, Uttar Dinajpur has seen relatively fewer deletions in the recent adjudication after the Election Commission (EC)’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

Goalpokhar saw 31,384 deletions, Karandighi 31,562, Hemtabad 18,215 and Itahar 18770. These are the seats where the TMC had won in 2021. A local TMC leader says, “This time polarisation has not happened yet. But our fight may be tougher than 2021 or 2024.”

However, TMC district chief and candidate Kanhaiya Lal Agarwal says, “SIR will not make an impact in Uttar Dinajpur. We are doing well and will get almost every seat here.”

On the question of four graves, he says, “The buried bodies is an issue which BJP rakes up in every election. . It generally has no district-wise impact. The state government does what it can for the victim families.”

Uttar Dinajpur was once known as a Congress stronghold with the party stalwart late Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi having represented it in the Lok Sabha in 1999 and 2004, followed by his wife Deepa Dasmunshi in 2009.

In Chakulia, the Congress has stepped up its campaign, fielding Ali Imran Ramj or Victor from the seat. Ramj was also the Congress’s candidate in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls from Raiganj, who also took a lead in the Chakulia segment. “This time, however, the main problem of Victor is that he will not get the support of the Left Front as the Congress and the Left are contesting this election separately. Otherwise, he seems to be a leading candidate in Chakulia,” says a senior CPI(M) leader.