Via Sandeshkhali, BJP sees an opening

The Opposition in Bengal is likely to keep the pot boiling until the Lok Sabha polls, even as the TMC firefights the allegations of land grab, forced conversion of land, and sexual exploitation with the arrest of Sheikh Shahjahan.

- ISHITA AYAN DUTT

Early Thursday, West Bengal police picked up Sheikh Shahjahan from Minakhan about 30 km from Sandeshkhali. Clad in a white shirt and a checked jacket the Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader marched into Basirhat court and was sent to 10 days' police custody after a brief hearing. As the images flashed on television screens, a section of Sandeshkhali celebrated with sweets and colours, ringing in an early Holi.

It could, well, have brought the curtains down on the nearly two-month protests by a section of the residents. But with the general election looming, the Sandeshkhali pot is expected to continue boiling.

On Friday, at a rally in Arambagh, in the Hooghly district of West Bengal, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who kick-started his political campaign in the state with a two-day visit, said that the entire country is sad and angry at what the TMC, which beats the drums of Ma, Mati, Manush has done to the sisters of Sandeshkhali. "The soul of Raja Ram Mohan Roy would be weeping seeing what has happened in Sandeshkhali."

On March 10, the BJP MLA from Nandigram and Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, is expected to drill down the point at a public gathering in Sandeshkhali. It's certainly not going to be the last that Mamata Banerjee's party will hear of it, as Sandeskhali and corruption are the two main issues for the Opposition.

TMC strongman

Shahjahan was arrested 54 days after an attack on Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials, who had gone to conduct searches in connection with an alleged ration scam, on January 5. The party convener of the Sandeshkhali Assembly constituency and member of TMC-held North 24 Parganas zilla parishad had been on the run since.