Residents keep fingers crossed as Arjun Singh’s crossover fuels fear of violence in Barrackpore

BARRACKPORE: On December 11, Trinamool supporters put this BJP party office at Basudebpur More — off Kalyani Expressway — under lock and key. Arjun Singh was with Trinamool then. Three months later, on Thursday, BJP activists took control of the office. Flags atop the building changed, but not the framed pictures inside, because Singh is with BJP now.
The Atpur Trinamool party office at Ward 20 of the Bhatpara Municipality got a fresh coat of saffron paint minutes after Singh joined BJP in New Delhi.Curious eyes watched the men at work fearing what is in store. Pro-Arjun councillors had got the message earlier. They gathered at the Bhatpara Municipality office and distributed sweets to celebrate the changeover.

Bhatpara Municipality vice-chairman Somnath Talukdar was among the few, who went to the Trinamool district party office at Madhyamgram to chalk out the party’s strategy after the chairman left the party. “Trinamool has a majority in the Bhatpara Municipality still. We can prove our majority at the opportune moment,” Talukdar said after coming back from Madhyamgram. As many as seven Trinamool councillors have already complained to Trinamool leader Nirmal Ghosh that they are getting threat calls from Arjun Singh loyalists. Food minister Jyoti Priya Mullick have asked these councillors to lodge a police complaint and ask for security.
The battle of words has fuelled apprehensions of largescale violence in the area used to extortions and gang wars. Fear was writ large on the faces of the residents at Jagaddal’s Meghna More near Singh’s residence. Two policemen guarded the office-cum-residence of the Bhatpara MLA and Municipality chairman where he meets locals. “People came here yesterday. There are no visitors for him today,” a policeman said. The streets looked deserted with the entire locality fearing a showdown ahead of the polls.
“We are scared. Street fights and gun battles are a regular these days in this locality. I fear that Singh’s joining BJP will escalate the tension further. I would expect the police to take steps to maintain peace in the locality,” said milk trader Subhrangshu Banerjee.
Kashinath Debnath, a former employee of the Hukumchand Jute Mill, also kept fingers crossed. “This area has a mixed population. Singh and his men have a command over the Hindispeaking jute mill workers who came from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. They are innocent and insecure people and easily come under the clutches of politicians. There has been a surge in BJP support at Jagaddal, Halisahar, Garulia and Kankinara,” Debnath said.
Singh loyalist and Trinamool councillor of Titagarh Municipality, Manish Shukla, though, ruled out any such possibility. “We told Arjunda a week ago that we are going to stay with Trinamool even if he joins BJP,” Shukla said. Singh’s brother-in-law and Noapara MLA Sunil Singh is also staying back. But that doesn’t seem reassuring to the Jagaddal residents. Knives are out against “gaddars” while the Arjun brigade is getting set for retaliation. BJP leader Mukul Roy’s son and Trinamool MLA from Bijpur Subhranshu Roy tried to pacify nerves. “I was with Trinamool and am still with the party. I was under tremendous pressure when my father changed party affiliations. I would wish that pressure doesn’t come on Arjun’s wife and son,” he said.