Legacy of Left rule, Bengal’s panchayat election violence started earlier this year under TMC

Kolkata: Political strife, violence and bloodshed have become synonymous with panchayat elections in West Bengal since the last Left Front rule. As days passed, it peaked with 34 per cent seats in the rural civic body system in the last two panchayat elections in 2013 and 2018, resulting in an unopposed victory for the ruling Trinamool Congress in 2018.

However, this time the pattern of violence was slightly different from the last two elections on two grounds. The first difference is that this time the bloodshed has started since the enrollment phase between June 9 and June 15, with six deaths already being reported from different parts of the state.

Political observers believe that this early admission of bloodshed is because unlike the last two panchayat elections when the ruling party had control of the ground, this time there was stiff resistance and resistance from the opposition forces. Now with the number of bloodshed being so high only during the nomination phase and seeing that this vendetta will continue, everyone is apprehensive that there will be violence in the upcoming phases of scrutiny of nomination papers, withdrawal of nominations, polling and counting phases. What form will it take and finally the period after the count.

Political observers have noted another interesting factor in the nomination-period violence, which is the stubborn resistance that has come from the Congress and the CPI(M), which is numerically superior in terms of assembly representation, more than from the BJP as the principal opposition party in the state. are essentially zero. – and the All India Secular Front (AISF), which has only one MLA.

From Bhangar in South 24 Parganas, where AISF’s Naushad Siddiqui is the party’s sole representative in the West Bengal Assembly, the two-year-old party is building resistance against the ruling Trinamool Congress in areas like Meenakhan in North 24 Parganas. In Borsul of East Burdwan, the contest is mainly between the CPI (M) and the Trinamool Congress. On the other hand, in Murshidabad district and Chopra in North Dinajpur, Congress workers along with a consortium of CPI(M) workers are leading the retaliation.

Of the six deaths reported during the enrollment phase, three were reported from Bhangar, two from Murshidabad and one from Chopra in Uttar Dinajpur. A candidate and an AISF worker are among the three killed in Bhangar, while the third is a local Trinamool Congress leader. The two casualties in Murshidabad district included one each from the Congress and Trinamool Congress camps. The one who died from Chopra is a CPI(M) candidate.

Observers believe that the political leaning pattern of the casualties also indicated that the attacks and counter-attacks are concentrated between the Congress-AISF-Left Front joint and the ruling Trinamool Congress. Meanwhile, although a division bench of Calcutta High Court Chief Justice TS Shivagnanam ordered the deployment of central armed forces across the state for the panchayat polls, the state government and the West Bengal State Election Commission have approached the Supreme Court against the order . ,

According to veteran political observer and columnist Sabyasachi Bandopadhyay, much of the onus for the initial violence lies with the State Election Commission. “Former Chief Secretary of West Bengal Rajiv Sinha was appointed as the State Election Commissioner on 7th June and the very next day he announced the date of election. This shows the lack of minimum homework before making the announcement. And now The commission and Bandopadhyay said that as the state government approaches the apex court to stop the deployment of central armed forces, the seriousness of both in ensuring free and fair elections is bound to be questioned.

Industry watcher Shantanu Sanyal feels that what is more dangerous than this massacre is the picture of the state for West Bengal that is being projected nationally or globally and what signals such violence is sending to potential investors. Is. “In this age of internet, the entire world, especially the non-resident Bengalis, who act as virtual brand ambassadors of West Bengal nationally and globally, are monitoring the day-to-day scenes on the rural body elections. What signals are they getting?” Sanyal said.

Meanwhile, the Trinamool Congress leadership, including Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, has continued to claim that the nomination process had never been so peaceful during the previous Left Front government.