Left hopes to ride anti-Morcha wave

CLOSE CONTEST LIKELY: Congress candidate for Matigara-Naxalbari Shankar Malakar campaigns in his constituency on Friday. Picture by Kundan Yolmo Siliguri, April 1: A day after the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha decided to formally offer support to the Trinamul-Congress alliance in the Terai and the Dooars, the Left Front here today worked out a strategy to orchestrate its claim that Mamata Banerjee was in favour of the division of the state in order to polarise the non-Gorkha votes to its advantage. The decision of the Morcha to offer support to the alliance could have a bearing on the outcome of the Assembly polls in at least four constituencies — Siliguri and Matigara-Naxalbari in Darjeeling district and Dabgram-Fulbari and Malbazar in Jalpaiguri. The four Assembly segments have a significant Gorkha population. Observers though said the Gorkha votes could influence the results only in case of a close contest. “We thank the Morcha leaders for confirming that there is an understanding between Trinamul and the hill party,” said state urban development minister and the CPM candidate of Siliguri Asok Bhattacharya. “We have decided to bring this to the fore in our state-wide campaign and tell the voters what it could mean for the state in case they are elected to power.” According to sources in the district administration, Gorkhas form seven per cent of the total voters in Siliguri, more than 15 per cent in Matigara-Naxalbari, around ten per cent in Malbazar and 10 per cent in Dabgram-Fulbari. This would amount to around 30,000 voters in Matigara-Naxalbari, 12,000 in Siliguri, 18,000 in Malbazar and 20,000 in Dabgram-Fulbari. “After the Morcha’s call to support the Trinamul-Congress alliance in the Dooars and the Terai, there are high chances of block voting by people owing allegiance to the Morcha,” said an observer. “In case of a close contest, this could upset the apple cart of the Left. Therefore, the only option left for the Front is to consolidate the anti-Morcha vote bank.” In the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, the Morcha had supported BJP candidates in Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri. It is expected that the Morcha votes which had been bagged by the BJP in 2009 will now be transferred to the Trinamul-Congress combine in the Dooars and the Terai. The Congress had fought together with Trinamul both in Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, . While the CPM had led over the Congress by 14,490 votes in the Siliguri segment, the BJP had polled a total of 31,736 votes. In Matigara-Naxalbari, the CPM had polled 30,525 votes more than the Congress while the BJP had polled 31,736. In Dabgram Fulbari, the CPM had led over the Congress by 24,454 votes but the BJP had polled 24,900 votes. The CPM was ahead of the Congress by 9,593 in Malbazar, where the BJP had polled 17,830 votes. The observers said if bulk of the BJP votes were cast for the Congress, it would result in close contests in the four seats in the coming Assembly polls. “We must not forget that the BJP, too, has its own supporters in this region,” an observer said. “If a good amount of these voters support the Trinamul-Congress combine, then it would lead to some very close contests.” The observers believe the Left would also try to win over the tribals, who comprise a majority of the voters in the Dooars and in the Phansidewa constituency in the Terai. The Adivasis are against the break-up of the state and want the Sixth Schedule status for the region. “This is exactly what the Left should try and exploit,” said an observer. “They should convince the tribals that if the Trinamul comes to power with the support of the Morcha, the break-up of the state would be inevitable and that, in order to prevent this, they should bring the Left to power.”