One of the main reasons Trinamul Congress leader and Union railway minister Mamata Banerjee is holding a rally in Lalgarh, deep in the Maoist belt, is her attempt to make inroads into West Midnapore, which continues to remain a weak zone for the Trinamul. The rally “could signal the Trinamul’s tacit understanding with the Maoists since the area is completely dominated by the insurgents,” sources said.
At this juncture both the Lok Sabha seats and 14 Assembly segments in West Midnapore are with the CPI(M). Despite the wave in her favour in the last Lok Sabha polls, Ms Banerjee failed to make a dent in this Marxist bastion. It was learnt that talks are on between the Maoist backed PCPA and the Trinamul to jointly contest some seats in West Midnapore in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
A few days ago Pulin Bihari Baske, the CPI(M) MP from Jhargram, which covers Lalgarh, had written to the Prime Minister urging him to “dissuade the railway minister from the disastrous course she has chosen to pursue”.
CPI(M) MP Basudeb Acharia, who met the PM on Friday, reminded him that the rally would once again “boost the sagging morale of the Maoists in the area”.
Speaking to this newspaper, CPI(M) central committee member Nilotpal Basu said: “While on one hand the Prime Minister is relentlessly describing Maoists as India’s greatest threat to internal security, on the other his ministers are openly holding rallies by taking support from them.” Mr Basu added that “it’s clear that the Centre is not serious about the Maoist problem”.