Mamata, Abhishek remember Nandigram, draws parallels between Left & BJP
The Statesman | 11 November 2025
The Singur and Nandigram movements that hastened the end of the Left Front’s 34-year rule in West Bengal once again echoed in the political discourse on Monday as the Trinamul Congress (TMC) marked Nandigram Day with tributes and sharp political messaging.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the party’s national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee invoked the memory of those bloody days to attack the BJP, which they described as carrying forward the same “oppressive mindset”. Commemorating the 18 anniversary of what is remembered as “operation sunrise”, massacre on 10 November, 2007, the chief minister wrote on her X handle, “I may forget my own name, but I will never forget Nandigram. On this day, I bow in respect to all martyrs of Nandigram and across the world.” The post recalled the sacrifices of those who resisted the forcible land acquisition attempts by the then Left Front government.
Abhishek Banerjee, in his message, took aim at the BJP, asserting that Bengal would teach it the same lesson it once taught the CPI-M. “The people of Bengal humbled the CPI-M. The BJP’s arrogance too will be crushed in the same way. Bengal’s people will give their reply through the ballot box and once again prove that they never bow down,” he wrote. Referring to the 2007 events, he said: “On this fateful day, the brave people of Nandigram rose up against the barbaric attempt by the then Left Front government to snatch away their land, dignity, and right to live with honour. The face of the oppressor has only changed, the oppression remains the same. The harmads of yesterday have returned as the jallads of today. While the Left Front relied on ‘scientific rigging’, the present regime resorts to silent, invisible rigging.”
In a veiled reference to the BJP-led central government, Mr Banerjee added: “Bengal taught the Left Front a lesson it will never forget. Today, we send the same message to the zamindars of Delhi. Bengal will resist relentlessly and resolutely. We will crush their arrogance in the ballot box and consign this politics of exclusion to the dustbin of history.”
He also issued a stern warning amid the ongoing controversy over the Special Intensive Review (SIR), saying: “No one can force the people of Bengal to bow their heads. The arrogance and feudal mindset of those in power will be answered through votes.” Every year, the Trinamul Congress observes 10 November to pay homage to the martyrs of Nandigram, whose deaths symbolised the mass uprising against the Left government’s bid to acquire land for a chemical hub.
The BJP too observed the day in Nandigram, led by Leader of Opposition in Bengal Assembly Suvendu Adhikari — once a key organiser of the same movement under Mamata Banerjee’s leadership. Mr Adhikari, who later defected to the BJP, held a separate march in Nandigram with black flags to commemorate the day, calling it a “blood-stained sunrise” that changed Bengal’s political history forever.