A day ahead of polls, Suvendu stays away from party office

Nandigram: For more than four months since he held his first meeting at Tekhali Bridge,

Suvendu Adhikari

was in a haste — meeting people, visiting temples — trying to bring about a change in the Nandigram narrative from the anti-land acquisition stir days in 2007. On Wednesday, a day before Nandigram goes to polls, Adhikari stayed indoors, gearing up the BJP vote machine for the mother of all battles on Thursday. Adhikari came to the BJP Reyapara party office at 2pm and spent 10 minutes with the party workers before he went out.

BJP Tamluk vice-president Pralay Pal was at the party office, within 30 metres of the Biruliabazar house where CM Mamata Banerjee has been staying for the last three days. “He told us that he will be back in the night. He will stay at the party office for the night,” said Pal.

BJP organizers said their leader will offer prayers to the Shiv Mandir where the Bengal CM paid a visit before starting her Nandigram campaign. “After the puja, he will cast his vote at the Nandanayekbar polling booth before he starts visiting other booths,” Pal said. The frequent visits by Mamata Banerjee to the temples and majhars spread over Nandigram is an indication that religious polarization was at work.

In 2007, the divide was between the ruling CPM and the Trinamool and black flags hung in villages against the carnage. Fourteen years later, the same Nandigram dons different flags — the three-cornered saffron flags with the “Om” embossed on it and the usual party flags at Maheshpur and Gopalnagar, villages with Hindu majority in Nandigram Block I. At Nandigram II, party flags of Trinamool, BJP and CPM were seen all over. Villages with Muslim presence — Garchakraberia, Mohammadpur, Kalicharanpur — had mostly Trinamool flags.

The scare was palpable particularly in Nandigram I. A tea stall owner from Gokulnagar said: “People are scared. They are getting indirect threats.”