Terror cloak foils CPM cadre

Rajib Chatterjee

CHINSURAH

Male Trinamul Congress candidates for various panchayats in Hooghly's Jangipara block are visiting the block office wearing burqas and ladies' slippers to collect their identity cards these days.

The reason: CPI-M cadres are allegedly not allowing the Opposition candidates to enter the block office. The Opposition candidates in Jangipara ~ the Assembly constituency of the state higher education minister Mr Sudarshan Roy Chowdhury ~ have devised this new technique to access the block office after some of their party colleagues, who went to the block office to collect their identity cards, were beaten up allegedly by CPI-M cadres in front of the office.

“Our six panchayat candidates from Dilakas, Mundulka and Kotulpur panchayats wore burqas and managed to elude the CPI-M cadres who are now keeping a watch in front of the block office to prevent our candidates from accessing the block office,” Mr Moinuddin Sheikh, a Trinamul Congress leader, said.

“Two of our candidates were beaten up by CPI-M cadres near the block office when they were on their way to collect identity cards,” Mr Sheikh said. He alleged that policemen, despite being aware of the “terror” being unleashed by the CPI-M cadres, are reluctant to take any steps to allow Trinamul candidates into the block office. “We had brought the matter to the notice of senior police officers, who preferred to keep their eyes shut. We apprehend an attack on our candidates prior to panchayat polls. The CPI-M cadres had forced nine of our candidates from Dilakas panchayat to withdraw their nomination papers. Despite being threatened, six Trinamul Congress candidates have refused to succumb to CPI-M sponsored terror,” Mr Sheikh alleged.

Three Trinamul Congress supporters, who had gone to Dingelhati village in Jangipara to hoist their party flag yesterday, were slapped allegedly by a group of CPI-M cadres. “Ultimately, we had to return without hoisting the party flag. We told police officers about the incident who reached the spot three hours after we were attacked,” Mr Sheikh alleged. According to reports, the CPI-M cadres allegedly forced at least 20 Trinamul candidates to withdraw their nomination papers from three panchayats in Jangipara.

Opposition parties couldn't even field a single candidate in Atpur panchayat owing to alleged threat by CPI-M cadres. “Policemen are acting at the behest of the CPI-M zonal committee member instead of being impartial.

“We would write to the state electoral officer demanding additional security arrangements for Jangipara on polling day,” Mr Dilip Yadav, senior district Trinamul Congress leader, said.

Mr Arup Basu Mallick, secretary of the CPI-M Jangipara zonal committee, denied the allegation, saying Opposition party leaders were offering a “cooked up story” about the CPI-M.


http://www.thestatesman.net/page.arcview.php?date=2008-04-30&usrsess=1&clid=1&id=228449