With a fortnight to go for the rural polls in West Bengal, the mechanics of violence and predatory politics have characteristically spiralled. The state has 3,342 gram panchayats and during its three-tier panchayat elections, contests are set to take place for 928 seats across 21 zilla parishads, 9,730 panchayat samitis and 63,229 gram panchayat seats.
Over the decades, the party in power has engaged in violent confrontations with its main political rivals, leading to an escalation of distrust and subterfuge. It is hardly any wonder that the Calcutta High Court ordered the State Election Commission to requisition Central forces for the entire state, not just the areas the latter has earmarked as ‘sensitive’, with the cost to be borne by the Centre. This was challenged in the apex court by both the SEC and the state government, but the pleas were dismissed by the Supreme Court on Tuesday, upholding the high court order.
In all instances across the country where Central forces are deployed, the unfamiliar terrain, language and culture become major operational hurdles, necessitating the involvement of the local police. It has happened previously in Bengal too and therein lies the catch.
Strangely, the turbulence on the ground has rarely dented the voter’s enthusiasm. Although apathy to voting is growing, the majority, especially in the villages and the districts, turn out in large numbers to exercise their franchise. A daily wage-earner from Joynagar said people would be ostracised if they desisted from casting their vote in favour of the party in power. “Over the years, the pattern has been unchanged, whether it was the Left Front or Trinamul,” he rued.
The state has also fine-tuned the concept of ‘scientific rigging’, whereby voters’ lists are tampered with, genuine voters turn up at booths to find their votes have already been cast, a concept called ‘booth capturing’ — even repolling at these centres was rarely able to save the day. The owner of a school in the Lakshmikantapur area says they are wary in the run-up to these elections. “Every time the polls are here, we decide to adjourn classes,” he added.
Over the past weeks, violent clashes have ensued prior to and during the filing of nominations. People living in the districts and the suburbs are already being intimidated. Jeeploads of ‘outsiders’ can be seen in the areas where the polls are scheduled. If it wasn’t for the history of Bengal’s polling patterns, such occurrences would have raised eyebrows.
In the 2018 panchayat polls, the TMC had won 90% of the seats, 34% of these uncontested. And while the party lost some of its shine in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, it did bounce back, despite forecasts to the contrary, in the 2021 assembly elections. Now it is on the back foot with several of its leaders behind bars on corruption charges in the School Service Commission recruitment scam, as well as with cases filed against its leaders’ involvement in coal and cattle smuggling. The Central Bureau of Investigation is also probing corruption charges in municipal recruitment.
On June 16, the governor, C.V. Ananda Bose, visited violence-hit Bhangar in South 24 Parganas, where TMC supporters clashed with those owing allegiance to the Naushad Siddiqui-led Indian Secular Front. In a statement, the governor said: “Victory in elections should depend on the count of votes, not the count of dead bodies.” Amen.
Till the counting of votes on July 11, the Trinamul Congress and its opponents, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Left-Congress alliance, will be voicing optimism and spouting bravado, as is their wont, while the voter awaits the verdict that will decide whom he will kowtow to for the next five years. All hail, democracy!