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The alleged intimidation of opposition candidates and party workers in West Bengal in the run-up to the panchayat elections reflects an entrenched and troubling aspect of the state’s political culture. Both the Congress and the BJP have moved the Supreme Court to demand an extension of the small window for filing nominations announced by the State Election Commission (SEC), in light of bomb attacks and threats of violence against their workers. The court ordered Central forces to be deployed to areas where the state police presence is insufficient and also asked the SEC to consider extending the June 15 deadline. Most explanations for the electoral violence in Bengal are due to the use of party cadres and government machinery during the left’s long rule. But for Prime Minister Mamata Banerjee, in her third term in power, what happened before is no longer an excuse or excuse.
In election after election—whether for local bodies or the state legislature—violence continues to blight the nomination process and the election campaign. This month alone, there have been reports of clashes and crude bombs from Murshidabad, Birbhum, East Midnapore, East Burdwan, Kochbahar, North and South 24 Parganas. That the bitterest political rivals, the BJP and the Congress, speaking with one voice underscores the seriousness of the situation: “…the previous panchayat elections held in West Bengal in 2018 were also marred by the vices of violence, because of which the petition opposition BJP leader Sovindu Adhikari says: “Fair and transparent elections cannot be held.” “During the previous elections of panchayats and municipalities held in 2018 and 2022 respectively, West Bengal witnessed unprecedented violence and barbaric attacks on the democratic rights of citizens…” says state Congress President Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury.
The violence of party cadres in West Bengal really dates back to the days of leftist rule. The CPM, in turn, can cite the Naxal movement or, in retrospect, the revolutionaries from Anushilan and Jugantar and their actions against British rule to justify the “systemic” violence that pollutes the politics of Bengal. The Transitional Military Council must answer why, instead of delivering on its promise of change, it has only deepened political criminality. Even intra-party conflicts lead to bloodshed – as happened with the killing of Transitional Military Council member Bahadu Sheikh and others in an alleged revenge attack in 2022. Banerjee is no stranger to what opposition leaders go through when faced with a violent state. She has the political clout to draw the red lines for her party. Its continued failure to do so is a disgrace to its government.
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