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The death toll in a single day on Saturday at least 12 – and counting – tells only a part of West Bengal Panchayat Election Day story. During the day, a wave of fear and violence swept across the state and in Bhangar, where Indian Express trace 11 villages from the opening of the polls to their closure, intimidation, and immunization of opposition candidates and voters; besieged villages; Missing opposition agents and improvised bomb explosions etched a telling story.
In the run-up to the campaign, Bhangar was a hotbed of violence with regular clashes and three people killed. On Saturday, Indian Express visited seven polling stations comprising 19 booths in the south of 24 Parganas and two polling stations comprising five polling stations in the north of 24 Parganas.
The state of siege was clear.
Just started, at 7 am: At Jirangachha School, a long line of electors began to form. Four Kansas of Bihar Military Police standing in one booth (Beunta 2 GP). Agents of both the Trinamool Congress and the Indian Secular Front (the main opposition in Bhangar) were in the booth. “Here we always hold peaceful elections. We will not allow any fools here,” says Gyaul Alam, a local.
This was a relative island.
Polls are in progress at Chhota Jagulia Gram Panchayat, Barasat Block 1. (Express Photo by Shashi Ghosh)
The bomb and the siege: 8 am: Chhoani Primary School is about 3 km away which has two cabins. The narrow path leading to the stalls is blocked by several young men, all Trinamool supporters. Many locals complain that despite the presence of the security personnel, they were not allowed to go to the cabin by the TMC men blocking their way.
At 8.20 am, a bomb exploded nearby. Ten minutes later, an ambulance drove past the polling station.
They don’t let us vote. But we accepted. “Two kids in the neighborhood were just injured after they picked up a bomb,” said a woman who is a relative of Elham Al Mulla, one of the injured children. In addition to him, the three-year-old Mantasha Khatun was injured.
People line up in the afternoon at Booth No. 35 in Kadambagachi Panchayat Village. North 24 Pargana. Express Photo Shashi Ghosh
Few are surprised here. “In the last two nights, we barely stayed up because we heard the sound of bombs,” says Mustaqeem al-Mulla, a resident. “The Transitional Military Council threatened us that if we or ISF supporters walk towards the booth, we will face the consequences after the voting is over.”
At the local Jirangachha health centre, a nurse told The Indian Express that Mulla was hit by shrapnel from a bomb in his eye, hand and leg. Mantasha was hit in the face and back. Both were referred to R.G. Kar Medical College, Kolkata.
Immunization of the opposition at 10 am: Hatisala Purbapara, Bhangar 2 Block is just 5 km from this kiosk. Here is a gathering of villagers at the entrance to this village, pointing to a two-storey house with a locked iron gate – from the outside.
Inside, Hajira Bibi, the TMC’s rival, the ISF candidate and her brother, Majnu Mulla, scream angrily.
“For the past four days, TMC backed miscreants have been roaming around in the evening and at night. They threatened us not to leave the house. Last night, I left my house and took refuge in my brother’s house. At around 2 am, TMC men closed the house from outside,” Hajira Bibi told the newspaper. The Indian Express.”They said if anyone tries to break it, there will be consequences.”
“The lock is small, but no one dares to break it,” says her brother. A group of local policemen arrived at the house, and left after 10 minutes without breaking the lock.
For four days before polling day, a resident and shop owner, Muhammad Ibrahim al-Mulla, says, “young men on TMC bikes were riding around morning, day and night, threatening us that if we went to vote our shop would be set on fire. We thought we were going to vote as a group.” But they dropped bombs last night.”
The TMC’s local candidate is Mumtaz Malla, and her husband, Gulfekar Malla, is also a local TMC leader.
Missing opposition, 12 noon: Hatisala Sarojini School, which has three stalls 41, 42 and 44, is a 10-minute drive from Bibi House. There are more than a dozen motorcycles parked at its entrance, and there are no central forces, only the state police. The young men, who identified themselves as workers for the Transitional Military Council, were at the gate and inside, there were no agents from the opposition Internal Security Forces.
“The opposition cannot give agents. So there is no one, only our agents are here. Look how peaceful the reconnaissance is,” says Binto Malla, a staffer for the Transitional Military Council.
Asked if there were no opposition agents, a policeman at the gate said, “We were told to only care about the voter queue, nothing else.”
Where the tables turn, 1 p.m.: Nine kilometers away is Tona Machidanga Oboitanik Primary School which has booths 87 and 88. This is the stronghold of TMC’s rival, the Jami Jibika Bastutantra Committee, which has spearheaded the agitation against the power unit in Bhangar. Naseema Bibi and Israful Al Mulla are two independent candidates supported by the Commission for two seats in the Panchayat against Roshinara Bibi and Kayum Ali Mulla of the Transitional Military Council.
Rival red flags flooded the narrow road leading to the school, which is manned by six Central Security personnel and two Armed State Police. “Here TMC gets a taste of its own medicine,” says Enam-ul-Haq, Chairman of the Gebeca Committee. After 15 years, people are now able to vote here. We are here now… TMC is scared that’s why their supporters didn’t come here”
When contacted, TMC Gram Panchayat candidate Sajjad Malla told The Indian Express: “You can see that they don’t allow our supporters even near the school.” Al-Mulla declined to comment after being told that the TMC was doing the same at other kiosks.
Even the trees are TMC, 1.45pm: About 3 km away is Uttargajipur Jamadarpukur Junior High School which has booths 94 and 95. This is where local TMC strongman Arabul Islam resides. His brother Azizul Islam is the TMC candidate for Zila Parishad. At every turn on the road, groups of six TMC workers stand guard.
At the kiosks, no elements of the rival ISF appeared, and the only ones present were from TMC. Asked about this, a TMC worker manning the booth said, “This is our land. Everyone here is TMC, even the trees. How are you going to find others? Peaceful suffrage is going on.”
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