A Strong 'Sandesh' for the TMC

The upheaval in Sandeshkhali has exposed Trinamool Congress' continued trouble with corruption

- Snigdhendu Bhattacharya

IN November 2023, Mamata Banerjee-West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) chairperson-indirectly criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi, stating she doesn't seek publicity by naming stadiums after herself. Her barb was an obvious reference to the recent renaming of the Motera Stadium in Ahmedabad to the Narendra Modi Stadium.

At the time, perhaps, she was not aware that one of her party's district-level leaders-Sheikh Shahjahan of Sandeshkhali in the Sundarban region, bordering Bangladesh-had also, in some ways, emulated Modi, albeit on a smaller scale. Shahjahan had renamed the Aurobindo Mission Ground as the Sheikh Shahjahan Fan Club, after usurping its control. The heavyweight had also named a two-story market complex in the area after himself.

The Sheikh Shahjahan Market in Sarberia stands as a testimony to his might, even as the Badshah' of Sandeshkhali has now found himself in police custody-first the state Crime Investigation Department (CID) and then the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The administration gave possession of the ground back to the Aurobindo Mission as well as many other land plots that had been forcefully occupied by Shahjahan. But not before the issue snowballed and attracted the attention of PM Modi and the BJP, which is now leveraging the issue ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

"Whatever happened in Sandeshkhali will put anyone to shame, but the TMC government does not care about your issues," Modi said on March 6 while addressing a public rally in Barasat in North 24 Parganas, the same district where Sandeshkhali is located. Several women from Sandeshkhali met the PM and narrated their ordeals to him.