West Bengal polls: Maoist bastion Lalgarh ponders whether to vote or not
People in Lalgarh are even afraid to talk about the upcoming assembly Polls fearing retribution by the Maoists.
The voters are terrified and are not ready to say anything on the crucial do-or-die assembly elections - welcome to Lalgarh, the Maoist heartland in West Bengal.
With Lalgarh fortified by security forces, voters fear their participation in the elections on May 10 could mean drawing the ire of the Maoists. The communist insurgents have called for a boycott of the polls. On the other hand, there is pressure from the administration on voters to exercise their franchise.
"Don't ask me anything on the elections. I cannot talk to you," a tea stall owner in Lalgarh Bazar said, adding, "You should understand this is Jangalmahal and we may get killed if we don't behave properly." Another shop owner pulled down his shutter when the Mail Today team asked him about the issues on which the polls are being fought.
The sleepy town of Lalgarh in West Midnapore district shot to fame in June 2009 when the Left Front government launched Operation Lalgarh to regain control over the tribal villages, which were liberated by the Maoists.
Since then, the Maoists and security forces have often been engaged in armed battles.
Unlike other parts of West Bengal, where the election campaign has been highvoltage, especially by the opposition alliance of Congress and the Trinamool Congress, the mood in Lalgarh is totally lacklustre.
The security forces in Lalgarh are on alert following intelligence input that Maoist squad leader Suchitra Mahato is hiding close by, planning a major offensive ahead of the last phase of elections for the 14 seats in Jangalmahal.
People fear Mahato will try to take revenge as her husband Sashadhar Mahato, a state committee member of the CPI (Maoist), was killed in March this year by security forces.
Lalgarh falls under Jhargram constituency, where Amar Basu of the CPM has gathered courage to file his candidature against Trinamool Congress' Sukumar Hansda. The Maoists have been regularly training guns at the CPM leaders and supporters.
The contest in Jhargram got more difficult with Chhatradhar Mahato contesting the elections as an independent candidate.