Once shy of caste politics,CPM matches Trinamool in wooing sect

Caste politics,or absence of it,had so far kept elections in Bengal apart from polls elsewhere.

Caste politics,or the absence of it,had so far kept elections in West Bengal apart from polls elsewhere. Not any more.

The CPM and the Trinamool Congress are both trying to woo a Hindu sect dominated largely by one caste,Namasudra. The Motua sect will account for nearly 30 lakh votes in 70-odd constituencies spread across the state.

The two parties have showered so many gifts over the last one year that they have caused a split in the family that heads the sect. The sanghadiparhi of the sect,Kapil Krushna Thakur,is being wooed by the Marxists while his younger brother Manjul Krishna Thakur has been given the Trinamool ticket for Gaighata.

They are descendants of Guru Harichand Thakur,who founded the sect two centuries ago. Binapani Devi,called Baroma by the Motuas,is the present matriarch of the sect,whose main temple is at Thakurnagar.

A struggling CPM needs every vote it can manage. Till the Assembly elections of 2006 the Marxists did not care about Motuas as a votebank. Now they know a small tilt here or there could decide the fate of a candidate, says Sukumar Das,former land reforms commissioner and an adviser to the Guru Harichand Guruchand Foundation.

The CPM gifted a degree college at Gaighata and 20 cottahs of land at Rajarhat for a research foundation in the name of Harichand-Guruchand,the two gurus of the sect. Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee was present during both announcements. The state government has also announced scholarships in the name of gurus Harichand and Guruchand.

Mamata Banerjee,for her part,has been calling herself a Motua; her party claims to have provided Rs 1.40 crore for renovation of the temple and a pond adjacent to the shrine. As Railway Minister,Mamata has announced conversion of Thakurnagar station into a model one and an increase in the number of trains in the Bongaon section. She has also been sending gifts regularly to the Baroma.

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Both parties flaunt letters signed by the Baroma to show they enjoy her blessings. Trinamool leaders,who avoid being seen with Marxists,did share the dais with CPM leaders at a Motua rally in Kolkata last year. Sitting beside the Baroma,CPM minister Gautam Dev and Union MoS Mukul Roy (Trinamool) avoided looking at each other.

We have been always with the Motuas, says Trinamool leader Jyotipriya Mullick,the present Gaighata MLA,citing the Rs 1.40 crore and the railway projects. Forward Bloc leader Haripada Biswas,himself from the Motua sect,accuses the Trinamool of bringing murky politics to the sect. The government decisions on setting up a college and a research centre were taken long back, he says.

They agree the tussle has divided the sect. Votes will be divided but we will get the major share, say Mullick. Biswas agrees,It has split the family and the effect will be felt soon.