Sumanti Ekka feels that the government has remained unsympathetic towards the plight of tea workers and was never sincere about implementing the Minimum Wages Act in the garden. She cites job losses, the agrarian crisis, price rise and loss of labour rights, while she demands a “strong united resistance” against the BJP.
Ekka, the CPI (ML) Liberation candidate for the Phansidewa Assembly constituency in the upcoming elections is a tea worker, and has grown up with the Naxalite ideology, as her grandfather Budhua Ekka had been associated with the Naxalbari movement, and father Siril associated with the party for the past several years.
The 26-year-old Ekka works in a local tea factory near her house.
“I have seen my father attend party programmes. I went to Siliguri for the first time with him when I was 12. My father would tell me about my grandfather and his involvement in the historic Naxalbari movement. He had been associated with prominent figures like Charu Majumder, Kanu Sanyal and Jangal Santhal during the heydays. Later, as I grew up, I started learning about party activities, its ideologies and the interest in it gradually started growing in me. I have been a regular reader of party mouthpiece Ajker Deshabrati,” Ekka said.
The general secretary of the CPI (ML) Liberation, Dipankar Bhattacharya, addressed her first election campaign at Liucipokhri today.
Photos of Karl Marx, Bhagat Singh and Charu Majumder adorn the rooms of their concrete house with asbestos roof at Kaduvita, under the Ghoshpukur gram panchayat, around 34 km away from Siliguri.
“The government failed to fix the minimum wages for tea workers. We got only assurances. There should be proper health care centres in tea plantations,” said Ekka, who failed to continue her studies after her Madhayamik examination. Her elder brother works in a private farm in Siliguri, while her younger brother appeared in the Higher Secondary examinations this year. She earns Rs 250 per day based on the daily work in the factory.
“I have no work now, as our work is seasonal and now it is off season,” Ekka said.
“It is unfortunate that no political party highlights the fundamental issues of the people during the elections. They hardly speak of employment for the youths, health and education and the rights of workers and farmers. The need is to shift the focus to an actual agenda against the real issues of unemployment, lack of education, social security. I am not concerned about the election results, but I always reach out to the people and stand by them,” the rookie candidate said.
According to her father Siril and mother Basanti, they would be happy if their daughter got a chance to work for the common people. “We have no personal expectations from her. If she is elected as an MLA and works for the people, we will be satisfied,” they said.
The CPI (ML) Liberation will contest in 12 seats independently and not as alliance partners with the Left Front Congress in the upcoming Assembly elections in the state.
“The party regards the BJP as enemy number-1, and this has triggered an intense debate among the Left parties in the state, with the fundamental question of who is a bigger political threat,” she said, adding that they should not equate the saffron brigade and the Trinamul Congress.
“The BJP has to be recognised as the biggest threat to democracy across the country and in Bengal. The Centre brought in three black anti-farmer laws to promote corporate exploitation. People are aware of what the BJP did in Assam in the name of National Register of Citizens. The fate of the D-voters and the plight of those who are languishing in detention camps have also contributed to the growing anxiety over the NRC. The consistent steep price rise, especially of fuel and domestic gas, has brought about a difficult situation,” Ekka added.
On the alliance of the Left Front, Congress and the Indian Secular Front, she asserted, “I do not find the alliance has the seriousness to fight against the BJP. I believe there should be a strong opposition in the state to prevent the BJP from coming to power,” she said.
Both the Phansidewa and Kharibari blocks come under Phansidewa Assembly segment, which is reserved for ST candidates. There are 238458 voters in the segment.