CONTAI: Nestled in Contai’s Korkuli Para, barely 600 metres from the central bus stand, lies ‘Shantikunj’. The lane leading to the house has now gained a new identity: The residence of Bengal’s CM-designate.In a first in five decades, a Midnapore district will have a chief minister in Suvendu Adhikari. Ajoy Mukherjee, who served as the CM of Bengal thrice – from March 1967 to Nov of the same year, from Feb 1969 to March 1970, and from April 1971 to June 1971 – was the last Midnapore son-of-the-soil in the post. Mukherjee’s political cradle Tamluk, then a part of undivided Midnapore, falls in East Midnapore – the district Adhikrai hails from. In a recent interview, Adhikari said he saw Mukherjee as one of his political inspirations.
In fact, after Prafulla Chandra Sen and Mukherjee, Adhikari is merely the third chief minister of Bengal to hail from a district outside the urban, elite space of Kolkata.“It feels nice to hear Suvendu’s name as CM,” said former Union minister Sisir Adhikari, the CM-designate’s father. “Historically, Midnapore has been sidelined. Deshapran Birendranath Sasmal was denied the mayorship of Kolkata for being from here, and Ajoy Mukherjee had his own share of struggles. We hope the people of Midnapore will finally get their due respect,” said the veteran politician.Suvendu Adhikari rose to national prominence in the 2009 Lok Sabha election by defeating CPM heavyweight Lakshman Seth from Tamluk. Then a Trinamool neta, Adhikari had by then worked extensively in East Midnapore, especially through the 2007 Nandigram land movement.In 2006, he led the 2006 Haripur nuclear power plant agitation to protect the livelihoods of local fishermen. It’s no wonder that Adhikari’s hometown Contai is elated.By 2.30 pm on Friday, CRPF personnel had taken guard at the main gate of Shantikunj, as a crowd started gathering. As Adhikari’s name was announced, celebrations started with youths bursting crackers on College Road, and BJP workers gathering at Nandanik Club and the adjacent party office opposite Shantikunj. People of all ages, from children to the elderly, were seen dancing to the beat of drums. Saffron abir filled the air and sweets were passed around.“The shy boy I knew is now CM,” said Biman Dhar, a neighbour of the Adhikaris. Recalling days when Adhikari used to go around the neighbourhood in a cycle not too well-suited to his height, Dhar said he could not be more proud.The excitement was shared by Joydev Panda, who took a detour while picking up his daughter from school just to show her the house. “I pass this road every day, but today I wanted my daughter to see the chief minister’s home. I don’t know if security will let us come this close from tomorrow,” said a jubilant Panda.Koushik Nanda, who has been running an eatery at the mouth of the lane for 15 years, is already planning for the future. Nanda plans to renovate his shop to accommodate the expected surge in crowd and security personnel. In fact, he intends to change address on the signboard on his shop to ‘Chief minister’s House Lane’. “Our ‘dada’ is now the CM. His struggle has paid off,” he said.
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