West Bengal’s political narrative is often written from the big stages of Kolkata or Delhi, but some of the most powerful stories are hidden deep inside its forests and hills. One such story lies in Joram, a remote village in Belpahari, in the Jhargram region — a village whose name is now quietly woven into the political journey of Mamata Banerjee and the Trinamool Congress.
As Abhishek Banerjee addresses a campaign rally in Binpur in support of candidate Birbaha Hansda, many residents of Joram say they want him to tell the story of how their village changed — a story that begins in hunger and ends, at least for now, in dignity.
A Village Once Defined by Hunger
Older residents of Joram still remember the years when their lives were defined by scarcity. Belpahari was then a name very few in the state knew. It was a region marked by extreme poverty, underdevelopment and neglect. There were hardly any proper roads, little state presence and almost no economic security.
For many families, food meant little more than rice with pimpṛer dim — ant eggs. It is this image of a forgotten Bengal that has stayed with the elders of the Shabar and Mahato communities who lived through those years.
Mamata Banerjee’s 1994 Visit: The Political Origin Story
The turning point, villagers say, came in January 1994, long before Mamata Banerjee became Chief Minister, when she was still the youth leader of the Congress in West Bengal. She arrived in Joram on a motorbike, travelling from Belpahari through rough terrain and with almost no infrastructure.
According to elderly residents, Mamata walked through the village, visited Shabar households and personally witnessed families eating rice with ant eggs. The sight, they recall, moved her deeply. Her emotional response, and the way she later highlighted their condition before the state, has become part of local political folklore.
Shuklal Shabar, now in his seventies, remembers that day clearly. He recalls how the young leader appeared shaken by the level of deprivation in the Shabar hamlet and promised to stand by them. For him and others, the news that she eventually became Chief Minister was not just a headline from Kolkata, but the rise of someone who had once seen their hunger up close.
Another resident, Dilip Mahato, remembers climbing the nearby hills with Mamata during that visit. He recalls her fast pace and her keen interest in understanding the terrain and the people’s lives. For families like his, who were then aligned with the Congress, that day symbolised the possibility that someone from mainstream politics was finally listening.
From Symbolic Visit to Tangible Change
Three decades later, Joram no longer looks like the same village. The changes are not just emotional or symbolic, but visible on the ground.
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Road Connectivity: Joram, once isolated, now has pucca (paved) roads connecting it to Belpahari market, around 15 km away. What was once an arduous, time-consuming journey is now easier and faster.
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Basic Services and Welfare: There are now two ICDS (Integrated Child Development Services) centres in the village, signalling an institutional presence of the state in areas like child nutrition and maternal care.
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Irrigation and Agriculture: For a community heavily dependent on agriculture, the construction of a check dam at a cost of around ₹80 lakh has been a crucial intervention. It has improved irrigation facilities, enabling more reliable cultivation and reducing the compulsion to migrate.
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Livelihoods and Local Jobs: Most residents today are engaged in farming. In addition, three young men from the village have secured work as civic volunteers, and one resident is employed as a primary school teacher. These may sound like small numbers from an urban perspective, but in a small rural settlement, such jobs represent critical economic anchors.
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Free Ration and Food Security: Perhaps the starkest contrast is in food security. Villagers now report that they receive free rice and flour through the public distribution system. The days when they had to worry about whether there would be food for two meals are, they say, largely behind them.
The older generation insists on one core point: they no longer have to migrate to other states in search of daily-wage work. The village that once survived on ant eggs can now think about staying rooted to its land.
Memory, Gratitude and Political Identity
Politics in rural Bengal is often built upon memory — of who came, who listened and who spoke for the voiceless. In Joram, Mamata Banerjee’s 1994 visit has become a foundational political memory.
Elderly residents like Shantanu Mahato from nearby Pathardanga recall how unknown Belpahari was in those days. He speaks of taking the then youth leader on his bike to Joram, crossing a stream on the way. Mamata, he says, was visibly disturbed by the hardship involved in simply reaching the village and by the daily struggles of the residents.
For many families, the arc from “youth Congress leader” to “Chief Minister” is not an abstract political trajectory; it is a story they feel personally connected to. The name of their small village, they feel, is somehow stitched into her rise.
Younger villagers like Nikhil Mahato say they grew up hearing these stories from their fathers and uncles — stories of the day Mamata came, climbed the hills, met the poor and spoke of a better future. As children, they were astonished by these tales of an important leader walking through their forests and slopes.
This long memory has shaped the village’s political identity. Even as party affiliations and electoral strategies change over time, the emotional connection to that early visit remains.
Abhishek Banerjee’s Rally: A Chance to Retell the Story
As Trinamool Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee holds a rally at Perihati in Jamaboni for Birbaha Hansda in the Binpur Assembly segment, residents of Joram see it as more than just another campaign event.
Many of them express a desire to attend the rally not only as supporters, but as storytellers. They hope to recount directly to Abhishek how much their village has changed since the days of hunger and anonymity.
They want him to carry forward the narrative of Joram — the village where Mamata once saw people eating rice with ant eggs, where she promised to stand by the poor, and where, decades later, the landscape of deprivation has significantly shifted.
For them, the request is simple yet politically loaded: tell our story again. Tell the story of how a forgotten hamlet on the fringes of Jhargram became an example of what state intervention, welfare schemes and political will can achieve.
The Politics of Development Narratives
Joram’s transformation is now part of a larger political message Trinamool Congress is keen to promote — that under its rule, remote and marginalised communities have seen real change.
From free rations to rural roads, from check dams to small but significant government jobs, these are the tangible markers that the party wants to showcase ahead of elections. Joram becomes a case study in how identity, memory and welfare intersect in West Bengal’s rural politics.
Critics may argue that much more remains to be done in regions like Belpahari — and they are not wrong. Questions about employment quality, healthcare standards, education outcomes and long-term economic security are still relevant. But Joram is important because it captures the shift from absolute destitution to a more stable, if modest, existence.
In a state where political battles are often fought over narratives of neglect versus development, the story of Joram is an asset for the ruling party. It allows TMC to counter opposition campaigns by pointing to specific, lived experiences of change.
Why Joram Matters in Bengal’s Political Discourse
The significance of Joram goes beyond its geographical size. It represents:
- A Reminder of the Past: A time when large pockets of Bengal were cut off from basic services and attention.
- A Symbol of Mamata’s Political Brand: A leader who built her image by engaging with the poorest and most marginalised.
- A Showcase for TMC’s Governance Claims: Physical infrastructure, welfare schemes and institutional presence serve as evidence of change.
- A Political Resource for Abhishek Banerjee: As he seeks to consolidate his position within the party and among voters, stories like Joram help connect his campaign to his aunt’s legacy.
For observers of West Bengal politics, keeping an eye on how often and how prominently Joram is mentioned in campaign speeches will be telling. It will show how deeply the ruling party believes in the power of such grassroots narratives.
In the end, Joram’s residents are not merely asking for recognition. They are asking for their journey — from hunger, ant eggs and nameless hardship to roads, rations and relative stability — to be acknowledged as part of the political history of modern Bengal.
If Abhishek Banerjee chooses to hold up Joram as an example in his speeches, it will be more than campaign rhetoric. It will be an affirmation that small, remote villages still matter in the grand story of Indian democracy.
