TMC, BJP woo Telugus in Bengal

Kharagpur: "Telanga Para," which means Telugu neighbourhood which is close to the Giri Maidan Railway station in Kharagpur has several serpentine alleys and is drawing great attention as the elections for the West Bengal Assembly are drawing closer.

In fact not just Kharagpur, the entire Midnapur constituency which includes Kharagpur, Titagarh and other areas has a large number of Telugu-speaking people. It is said that there about four lakh Telugus and most of them had migrated to West Bengal about 100 to 150 years ago. A majority of them are from the north coastal areas of Andhra Pradesh. They had gone to West Bengal as workers in jute mills.

In order to woo this linguistic minority, the West Bengal government had recently accorded official language status to Telugu. In some places like Titagarh there is a Telugu school where Telugu is one of the subjects till class XI. There are also Telugu associations which not only work for the welfare of the Telugus but also strive for keeping the language and culture alive.

Interestingly, all the government schemes that are applicable to the local people are applicable to these linguistic minorities as well.

The Telugus are however keeping the candidates guessing. They have been appreciating the left and the TMC governments for listening to their grievances brought to its notice from time to time and finding solutions. At many places wall graffiti in Telugu seeking votes for Trinamool are found. But when asked the voters whom they support, they are not willing to give any indication. The TMC and the BJP the two main players feel that the votes of Telugus would be crucial during the ensuing elections and hence are working out strategies to woo them.