Trinamul Congress chairperson Mamata Banerjee remembered the farmers, who laid their lives at Nandigram in East Midnapore on 14 March, 2007.
On March 14, 2007 the police and CPM goons in a bid to disperse the agitating farmers had opened fire killing 14 people on the spot. The event triggered a spirited movement by the Opposition, led by Mamata Banerjee, which marked the beginning of the end of 34 years of CPM rule in Bengal.
In the 2008 panchayat election, Trinamul Congress won the zilla parishad in East Midnapore and South 24 Parganas. In 2009, Lok Sabha election, Trinamul got 19 seats while in 2010 got control over Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC). Finally, in 2011, Trinamul Congress defeated the CPM-led Left Front government.
Trinamul Congress observes the day as Farmers’ Day. Trinamul Congress chairperson Mamata Banerjee tweeted: “On Farmers’ Day, I remember the farmers who had laid down their lives. Farmers are very close to our hearts and they provide us our food. We have tried to be by their side. Under the Krishak Bandhu scheme, we have provided financial help to them, do crop insurance, given pensions to the farmers and assist those who die in accidents. We have started 186 Kisan Mandi and give agricultural equipment free of cost.”
Abhishek Banerjee, national general secretary of the party, who is touring in north Bengal, today, garlanded the martyr’s tomb and paid homage to the farmers.
The farmers in Nandigram, under Bhumi Ucched Pratirodh Committee (BUPC) tried to foil the attempt of the state government to acquire the land to set up a chemical and petrochemical hub by Prasun Mukherjee, an NRI businessman. The farmers organized a movement and refused the state government to acquire the land. The Left Front government had to open fire at farmers to disperse them, leading to the death of 14 people, while many went missing.
Mamata Banerjee went to the areas despite stiff resistance put forward by CPM cadres. The CPM government finally dropped the project but it was too late. The farmers agitation, led by Mamata Banerjee against the aggrieved farmers in Nandigram and Singur, who had organized movement against forcible acquisition of farm land put the final nail in CPM’s coffin.
There was massive erosion of CPM vote bank after Nandigram and from 2011 Assembly election, in all the subsequent polls, many candidates of the party had forfeited their deposits.