Violence has been the way of things at places like Nanoor, Parui, Labhpur and Suchpur in Birbhum district for years.
If the Trinamool Congress used an iron hand to keep control over these areas, CPM leader Md Salim just might have added to the problems. Even though he was suggesting a solution to boost the morale of his party workers and supporters, his fiery speeches on Thursday could go some distance to spill more blood.
Since Trinamool came to power in 2011, Left supporters stayed away from the streets. Some even had to leave their homes behind to escape any kind of retribution. With the Left working out a coalition with the Congress before the Assembly polls, red flags have again started making appearances in the district, however limited. Left party workers have again found the courage to return to their party offices, organise some public meetings and rallies, with the support from Congress workers, who were also cornered.
Salim, one of the few Left MPs from Bengal, decided to take a stronger tone on Thursday as he addressed two rallies in the district, something the party had almost forsaken for the past five years.
Taking opportunity of the situation, and to enthuse supporters, he let out a barrage, which called for retribution, even though CPM state secretary Surjya Kanta Mishra has called for peace.
“If such a situation arises that some of us try to harm Trinamool supporters after we return to power, you must protect them from such attacks,” Mishra told supporters in a recent rally.
Salim, who took a different path, said at Labhpur and Nanoor, two of the most disturbed villages in the district, that winning back power in Bengal would mean “matching accounts for every attack, every drop of blood shed”.