For West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee is Didi – the elder sister. After breaking through the red bastion in 2011 and ending the 34-year rule of the Left Front, she has not only held power uninterrupted but virtually dismantled the Left Front and held off a formidable challenge from the BJP.

Banerjee’s political rise began with the land acquisition protests in Singur and Nandigram in 2006, where she led farmer-led agitations against the Left Front government’s push to acquire land for industrial use. These protests propelled her to the forefront of state politics but also halted Bengal’s nascent industrial resurgence. The fallout left Singur, Nandigram and much of Bengal caught in a time warp.

Ahead of the 2024 general election, I travelled to Singur to gauge whether residents now regret the l

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