Leaders of the ruling Trinamul and the BJP have started flagging the deaths of youths caused by alleged firing by the Border Security Force and the state police to draw support from the Rajbanshis of north Bengal ahead of panchayat elections.

Over the past few months, Trinamul leaders, including party supremo Mamata Banerjee and party’s national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, have time and again raised fingers at the BSF that guards the India-Bangladesh border. The BSF is “trigger-happy” and has killed Rajbanshi youths without any provocation, they alleged.

The BJP has referred to the deaths of two youths, Rajesh Sarkar and Tapas Barman, in alleged police firing at Daribhit village of Islampur, in 2018 during a protest over the recruitment of teachers at a local school. It is also flagging the death of Mrityunjoy Barman, also a Rajbanshi youth, who was killed in a suspected police firing at a village in North Dinajpur during a raid in April 2023.

“As we reach out to people, we are talking about the atrocities of the BSF which the villagers, especially near the India-Bangla border, face. There had been a number of incidents when the BSF has gunned down youths for no reason,” said Parthapratim Roy, a former MP and Trinamul’s spokesperson in Cooch Behar, referring to the recent deaths of Prem Kumar Barman and Gautam Barman in the district.

Basudeb Sarkar, the BJP president of North Dinajpur district, said they were telling people how youths have fallen to police bullets.

“We are also apprising people of the apathy witnessed when police recovered the body of a minor girl. The state government has hardly done anything for the development of the Rajbanshis,” he said.

In north Bengal, the support of Rajbanshis decides the results of rural polls in around four districts. Since 2019, the BJP has managed to secure the support of a considerable part of the community, political observers said.

“Ahead of the rural polls, Trinamul is keen to revive its support base here while the BJP is desperate to retain it,” said an observer.