Kolkata
Fed up with the alleged “continuous neglect” of their cause — demand for grant of ST status —by the powers that be in Delhi and Kolkata, the Kurmis of Bengal’s Jangalmahal have decided to turn their social movement into a political one by putting up candidates in the parliamentary elections “instead of playing the sidekicks of the mainstream parties”.
“Enough is enough. It seems that no political party has an ear for us. We have tested all of them and all the ways — from exchanging letters to giving votes as pressure groups to blockading roads and railways for days. They have no impact on these political parties which wear a thick skin. So, we have decided to field our own candidates and see how it hurts and whom it hurts,” said Mool Manta or Chief Leader of the Adivasi Kurmi Samaj Ajit Mahato, before borrowing a key line from Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s 2021 election coinage “Khela Hobe” (there is a game in the offing).
“Onek hoye giche. Ebar onno khela hobe. Purano khelai chira bhije na (enough is enough, there will be a different game played this time round. The old one is not worth it,” he added.
After a high-level meeting of the state committee of Adivasi Kurmi Samaj in Purulia, it has been finalised that the party will contest in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. With Ajit Mahato himself taking on his rivals from Purulia, other Kurmi candidates will take the field from Bankura, Midnapore and Jhargram.
The announcement of the Adivasi Kurmi Samaj to field its own candidates has created a stir in the political circles. The trepidation in the political parties — particularly the BJP and the Trinamool Congress — is to be seen to be believed as none of their leaders would venture out to comment.
“We always have soft corner for them and will continue to support all their democratic ways to extract their rights” is what BJP MP from Puruila Jyotirmoy Singh Mahato said blaming Mamata Banerjee for all the mess.
TMC’s Shanitram Mahato, who is seen as Jyotirmoy’s main challenger, however, blames the Centre for “playing with the sentiments of the Kurmis, otherwise the Bengal Government had sent its reports to them and it was for them to take a considerate view.”
Both, nevertheless, expressed confidence that the mainstream Kurmi society would wholeheartedly vote for them.
The Kurmis are blaming both the Centre and the State for “playing with our sentiments”. According to their senior leader Arup Mahato, “Mamata Banerjee assured us of an early solution to our problem but her Government sent a faulty report to the TRI. Even the Centre could have taken a lenient view or put pressure on the State but they only indulged in blame game. We have understood their game plans and have decided to fight.”
The Mamata Banerjee government, sensing the change in mood, initiated the West Bengal Cultural Research Institute, a state government body dedicated to the welfare of indigenous tribes. The Institute sent a favourable report on granting ST status to Kurmis to the Union government, but it was allegedly rejected on technical grounds.
Banerjee has also announced several projects recently to woo the Kurmi vote bank like setting up a Kurmi Academy and Kurmi Bhawan.
The leaders of the Kurmi community have, however, termed it as “too little and too late”. Their supreme leader Ajit Mahato says, “For 73 years, we have been victims of deception, and we have now taken to the streets due to the lack of progress on numerous applications!”
“Enough of begging. We will not remain the leaders’ sidekicks. If I win, I will raise this issue in Parliament myself and see to it that our issue is addressed,” he said.
Pollsters have emphatically said that the Kurmi movement and their decision to raise a “non-aligned block” particularly ahead of the elections fielding candidates in at least four different constituencies of Bengal is going to keep all the political parties on the tenterhooks.
According to a rough estimate the Kurmi community holds the largest demographic presence in the region, making up 65% of the population of Purulia, 42% of Jhargram, 17% of West Midnapore, and 18% of Bankura.
In the recently concluded district board elections, the Kurmis mustered about 68,000 votes which is likely to go further up in the parliamentary elections. According to sources, the BJP is likely to suffer more because the Kurmis had voted the saffron outfit wholeheartedly in the 2019 elections.
However, BJP district leader Vivek Ranga firmly believes that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is going to be the biggest trump card even this year. “Jangalmahal is sure to vote for Modi’s Vikasit Bharat (developed India) and not other issues,” he said adding as well that the Kurmis are a matured race and would definitely vote to root out corruption.
But the Kurmi intellectuals think otherwise. “Even if the Kurmis cannot win, of which there is little chance, they can seriously hurt the mainstream political parties,” says Ranjit Mahato adding how the issues are being made to shift year by year — thanks to some instigations by the political parties.
“By the time I was old enough to understand politics, we’re talking about class struggle and the ideological battle between the oppressor and the oppressed. Now, all I see is the fight over race and religion. I never wanted this to happen,” pointed out Madhusudan Mahato, a historian and artist from Ranibandh in Bankura district.
“Though you cannot ignore some of the issues put forward by the Kurmis, the main issues of Roti, Kapda aur Makaan is being seriously ignored. These issues have gone to the backburner while lesser issues that do not impact the people’s everyday life have been made to come up in front. This is simply unethical and playing with the sentiments of the voters. Sooner the Kurmis understand the better,” he said.
