Kolkata: Naxalbari, which went to the polls in the fifth phase of the Bengali election on April 17 and was once the center of politics after the peasant uprising in 1967, has since lost its political luster.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is expected to address a public rally in support of party candidate Sankar Malakar. BK Hariprasad, a senior observer of the party, said: ‘The campaign of Rahul Gandhi ji will definitely increase the party’s performance and help the Congress Alliance win the seat as the BJP and the TMC have done nothing for the state not except to play the debt game. ”
The Matigara-Naxalbari Assembly constituency is currently represented by Congressman Sankar Malakar, who has been the MLA since 2011. The seat is reserved for Schedule. In the 2016 election, he defeated Amar Sinha of the TMC. Sankar Malakar received 41.28 percent of the vote.
In the April 17 poll, Sankar Malakar (INC), captain Nalini Ranjan Ray (AITC) and Anandamoy Barman (BJP) from the Matigara-Naxalbari constituency contested. In the 2016 General Election, the total percentage of votes in this constituency was recorded as 84 percent.
The area was once the center of left-wing politics and is home to the founder of CPI ML, Charu Majumdar, who led the peasant movement that led to the firing of the police and caused an armed uprising. On May 25, 1967, police in the town of Prasadujyot in Naxalbari opened fire, killing eleven people, including two children. As the news of the firing and deaths spread, the peasants, armed with bows and arrows, began a spontaneous agitation that culminated in a full-scale armed struggle.
The farmers’ protest began with the refusal to hand over the majority of the farming products to landowners. The protesters not only retained and distributed the crop, but also seized land by sticking red flags as a sign of ownership. The Naxalbari movement divided the Communist Party, with the Maoist factions teaming up to launch an armed struggle to overthrow landowners and the state.
Charu Majumdar later launched the CPI-ML in 1969, but the movement was led by Jangal Santhal, Kanu Sanyal, Khokon Majumdar, Nimu Singh and Mujibur Rehman to name a few.
The movement came down within a few years after the death of Charu Majumdar in police custody in 1972.
Source: Telangana Today