Mini Andhra Pradesh thrives in Kharagpur

KHARAGPUR: Not far away from the Giri Maidan Railway station in Kharagpur , lies a narrow serpentine alley, which the locals refer to as “Telenga (Telugu) Para” (neighbourhood).


In April, before the Lok Sabha Polls, this road drew a lot of attention. Reason: two wall graffiti in Telugu that stood out amidst a hoard of signage, signboards and advertisement hoardings mostly in Bengali.

The message was clear – “Vote for Trinamool Congress”.

The nearest Andhra town from Kharagpur is Icchapuram – about 530km away. That too, a well over 400km of this stretch is actually Odisha.

Then what forced West Bengal chief minister, Mamata Banerjee, and her party to seek votes in Telugu?

“Why won’t she? The town’s electoral roll states Kharagpur has 40% Bengali voters and a strong 35% Telugu voters. No wonder political parties here organise election campaigns in Telugu and we exactly did this,” said Prashant Rao, a local resident and Trinamool Congress worker. It was Rao who, before the polls, helped his Bengali party colleague and graffiti artist Manik Kar Mahapatra with the work.

Kharagpur is often referred to as “Mini Andhra” in West Bengal because of its dominant Telugu population. Soon after independence, Telugus from North Andhra started migrating to Kharagpur in search of railway jobs.

“Railways outsource several ancillary organisations. While some of these migrated Telugus managed to find a railway job, their relatives or neighbours followed them to find a job in these ancillary organizations. And this is how Telugus got settled in Kharagpur and over the years made it their ‘permanent’ home,” said septuagenarian V Mohan Rao.

Rao is a resident of Malancha area of Kharagpur. At the age of two he came to Kharagpur from Kasbugga, a small hamlet located in the Srikakuram district of Andhra Pradesh , with his family. He is a retired railway employee.

Many Telugus even occupy powerful political positions in the railway town today. The Kharagpur Municipal Corporation, too, has several Telugu councillors.

“Congress MLA Gyan Singh Sohanpal had created a record by winning Kharagpur Sadar Assembly seat nine times. Even before his death (he passed away in August 2017) he used to take suggestions from Ram Babu and other prominent Telugu political leaders of Kharagpur before fielding any Congress candidate. Even Trinamool and BJP follow the trend,” said Venkat Raman, a councillor of ward 13.

Six out of the 35 wards of Kharagpur Municipality have Telugu councillors. Of late, though, a reverse trend has also started. New generation Telugus from the town have begun migrating outside for better education and jobs.

“I am a third-generation railway employee. But my daughter has shifted to Hyderabad for higher studies and to find a job there,” said Shyam.