CPM's industry push rides on Nano in Raiganj poll campaign against TMC
Telegraph | 16 April 2026
In an innovative strategy to highlight the “anti-industry policies” of the ruling Trinamool Congress government, Raiganj Assembly constituency’s CPM candidate Jibananda Singha has turned his personal Tata Nano car into a campaign tool.
Singha, a 60-year-old businessman and a veteran Left activist, drives his Nano twice daily to connect with voters across the constituency.
The car, which he bought in 2011, has now become a symbolic part of his campaign.
Singha said that former chief minister, the late Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, had envisioned the Nano car factory in Singur as a symbol of industrial growth. He purchased the Nano in 2011, hoping for the return of a Left Front government, and has continued to use it as a sign of that aspiration.
“The Nano car is an emotion. I am presenting that emotion before the people,” Singha said. “If the Nano factory had not been driven out, it could have generated significant employment. We want to bring back industries and create jobs for unemployed youth.”
After nearly 25 years, CPM is contesting in Raiganj with its traditional hammer-sickle-star symbol in the 2026 Bengal Assembly elections.
The Left has not joined hands with the Congress this time as the latter decided to go solo, leading both parties to field separate candidates.
Singha began his political journey through student politics in 1980 and became active in youth and labour movements. He also served as the head of Kamalabari panchayat in 1998. Popularly known as “Jibu Da”, he has maintained a strong grassroots presence.
“Over the past 15 years, the Trinamool government has miserably failed in important sectors like education, healthcare and employment. I am reaching out to people, saying that if the Left’s initiative of industrialisation had continued, youths would not have had to migrate to other states and would have got jobs here. Instead of creating jobs, Trinamool is offering a monthly allowance to youths to gain their support,” said the CPM candidate.
District Trinamool leaders, however, dismissed the campaign and said the Nano issue had been debated extensively in the past.
“People have decisively rejected the Left Front. They know Mamata Banerjee has delivered in terms of agriculture and industrial development. Showing a Nano car now in the election campaign won’t make any impact,” said Sandeep Biswas, the Trinamool spokesperson in North Dinajpur.