Calcutta: Thursday's massacre of 11 people in West Bengal's Birbhum district has once again brought to the fore the simmering political tensions as the Trinamool Congress and the ruling Communists wage a bloody battle for political supremacy in the state's rural belts.

Observers say the clashes are a fallout of the renewed attempts by the ruling Left Front, especially the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) and the Trinamool to either strengthen their support base or carve out new areas of influence.

Since 1997 when the Trinamool Congress was born out of the split in the state unit of the Congress party, it has evolved as the main Opposition in combination with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Before that, the Left Front was never under any real threat from the Congress. Now, the Trinamool and its firebrand leader, Mamata Banerjee, look like upsetting the apple cart and threatening the poll prospects of the Left.

Banerjee has vowed to oust the Communist government after next year's Assembly elections. She has launched an all-out drive to muster support in areas hitherto regarded as CPI-M strongholds. Pre-poll assessments of the CPI-M point to the growing strength of the Trinamool in 182 of the state's 294 assembly segments, most of which were Red bastions at one time.

Police concede that the Midnapore and Hooghly districts are the two hotbeds of political animosity. This is because the BJP-Trinamool combine has been seriously challenging the supremacy of the CPI-M in these areas.

A series of clashes in Midnapore's Kespur and Hooghly's Garbeta areas during the last six months has left about 50 people dead and scores injured. Houses belonging to the supporters of both parties have been vandalised.

Other rural districts from where clashes are being reported are Howrah, South 24 Parganas and North 24 Parganas. Thursday's violence in Sujpur village in Birbhum district has come as a shock, as political tension was not known in the area. Political observers say that the incident, in which 11 Trinamool supporters were shot and stabbed to death, allegedly by CPI-M supporters, was an example of political rivalry spreading to newer areas.

"Violence is nil or negligible in central and northern parts of the state, where the Left Front's hegemony hasn't been eroded," says political scientist Rajiv Chaudhury. For the CPI-M, what is alarming is that the BJP-Trinamool combine has not only held onto the political gains it made in 1998, but that it has added three parliamentary seats to its tally at the CPI-M's expense, he says.

A report by the Union government on the law and order situation of the state says, "The rivalry between the CPI-M and the Trinamool is likely to accentuate with every passing day. Last year's polls had acted as a catalyst to the existing tension between the two parties, culminating in political clashes." The clashes are expected to increase in the run-up to next year's Assembly elections.

Both CPI-M and the Trinamool deny that they are resorting to violence for gaining political mileage. Says Anil Biswas, the CPI-M state secretary: "Our workers are being attacked in the villages by Trinamool rowdies. But, we have instructed our supporters to exercise restraint. There is no question of adopting a violent posture to combat the so-called growth of the Trinamool Congress."

Trinamool leader Shovandev Chattopadhyay, however, says, "Everybody knows that the CPI-M is scared of the growing popularity of the Trinamool Congress. They are now taking recourse to a terror tactics to keep their vote bank intact. But people will teach them a lesson in the assembly elections."

Whatever be the political implications of the clashes, they are telling on the state's law-and-order situation. Police say the menace is assuming alarming proportions in Midnapore and Hooghly districts, where almost every household has arms.

State Public Works Department Minister Kshiti Goswami has admitted that the law-and-order situation is deteriorating because of the political rivalry. His remarks had created a controversy and embarrassed the government.

Both the Trinamool and the Communists have complained against each other to Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and demanded action.

India Abroad News Service

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