Kolkata:
Two years ago, on March 14, 2007, police firing killed 14 people in West Bengal's Nandigram village. That was when villagers were protesting acquisition of farmland for a chemical hub. Today, the Left is trying to live down the past. But will the people forget and vote?
However, Lakshman Seth -- the CPM candidate for Tamluk which includes Nandigram -- believes Nandigram is not a central electoral issue.
"Nandigram is not the central issue of the election campaign. Central issues are price hike, nuclear deal with America and unemployment," he said.
Lakshman is the man who triggered the trouble at Nandigram by issuing a land acquisition notice apparently without the government's nod.
But Trinamool's Subhendu Adhikari says that is simply wishful thinking.
Nandigram is a big issue in this election because of the atrocity of CPM and barbarism of the state government, which is exposed," he says.
When Nandigram goes to vote, it will certainly remember those victims. Now, the big question is -- how many other voters in Tamluk and the rest of Bengal will remember them when their fingers are hovering over the EVM button?