Seat with bitter history weighs old trends against new option
Domkol, constituency with India’s densest Muslim population, was always CPM vs Cong but now assesses what TMC govt has done
Anisur Rahman of CPM, which has represented Domkol for decades. (Express Photo by Subham Dutta)
No one plays the minority card in Domkol, whose 89.7 per cent Muslim population is the highest for any assembly constituency in the country. It has also been one of the most backward in Bengal, although Trinamool supporters would like to list what their government has done here in the last five years.
About 40 km from Baharampur town in Murshidabad, its history tied with Murshid Kuli Khan, Nawab Sirajudullah and the British, Domkol has one more political identity. It has seen some of the worst political violence in Bengal, with over 100 Congress and CPM supporters killed over the years.
Abdur Rahim Sheikh, Congress candidate, counts 17 killings during the 2008 panchayat polls, following 27 in 2003. The 2003 panchayat polls had witnessed 107 deaths in the state, 54 of these in Murshidabad and 27 of these, in turn, in Domkol. “We have a political martyr in every other Congress or CPM household,” said Sheikh.
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So deep is the rivalry that this seat refused to go with the understanding between the Congress and the CPM. “How can we forgo our claim to this seat?” says Sheikh. “We have most of the panchayat bodies under our control and we led by over 30,000 votes in this assembly segment in the Lok Sabha polls. Add to that the history of bloodshed.”
Domkol’s voting trends are consistent yet contradictory. The CPM has held the assembly seat for 39 years but in successive Lok Sabha polls, the Congress has been leading by huge margins in this segment. CPM MLA Anisur Rahman, the candidate once again, will be banking on the former trend. The former minister carries an image of being charming and accessible, always attending birthdays, festivals and emergencies.
This time, however, one can hear voices questioning the lack of development during Left rule — not one government school or college in 39 years, no healthcare facility, no jobs. “Thousands migrate to other states, make some money and come back home, only to go back again. This has become the character of Domkol,” said Parbati Shankar Nandy, secretary of the Domkol Babsayee Samiti, an influential local body that helps swing votes. In the last two or three elections, he worked with Rahman. This time, he is with Shoumik Hossain, TMC youth leader.
Nandy said the Trinamool Congress government has done more in less than five years than the CPM did in more than 30 years. Domkol’s first hostel for women has come up, besides the building for a superspeciality hospital. He listed more — the Rajiv Gandhi rural electrification programme has reached more homes, Domkol has become a municipality, small bridges have given connectivity to newer areas, a market complex is coming up at Rs 1.32 crore.
The Domkol BDO, Tsewang Gyatso Bhutia, who hails from Darjeeling, admitted he is on difficult terrain in terms of weather and work. The government’s cycle distribution programme was a big hit, he said, but those who did not get one blocked roads frequently in Domkol. “There are not enough artisans who could assemble the cycles. We hired artisans from Mumbai and Jharkhand before the polls and managed to distribute many but the target is yet to be met.”
Hossain, the TMC candidate, moves around with armed commandos who claim they were sent by the police because he is in a high-risk list in this violent constituency. Hossein is confident; he claims to have engineered mass defections from both the Congress and the CPM. “The entire Left vote machinery is with me now. If anyone wants to bet on one seat in Mushisdabad, it is here in Domkol for Trinamool Congress,” he said.
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