Kolkata: Political violence, especially during elections, has been an integral part of Bengal’s history.
Post the volatile 1960s and 1970s, nearly throughout the 34 years of the Left regime, there were episodes of state-sponsored violence to control the electorate and to showcase CPI(M)’s dominance.
After a brief lull of 2-3 years, that phase seems to have returned.
On Thursday, during the second phase of the Lok Sabha elections, three north Bengal constituencies went to polls – Darjeeling, Raiganj and Jalpaiguri – and violence erupted in several places in all of them.
In Patagora area of Raiganj constituency, CPI(M) candidate and incumbent MP, Mohammed Salim’s car was vandalised when he went to cast his vote.
CPI(M) candidate from Raiganj, Mohammed Salim’s car vandalised by goons. Credit: Twitter
“Trinamool-backed miscreants gathered within 100 metres of a polling station in Islampur’s Patagara. They were trying to intimidate the voters. When I tried to go there, they attacked my vehicle,” Salim told local media.
In another incident, a vernacular news channel ABP Ananda’s reporter, Partha Pratim Ghosh was allegedly attacked by Trinamool Congress cadre. During the early hours of voting, Ghosh and his cameraperson, Swapan Muzumdar was attacked with bamboo rods and wooden sticks in Raigang constituency’s Goalpokhar.
Ghosh received few calls that violence had erupted in various booths of Goalpokhar in North Dinajpur. When he, along with his crew, reached the Kataful Bari area, they saw voters running away from the booth.
“Local people told us that they were not allowed to vote by some people at the booth. We later found out over 20-25 people gathered in front of the polling station. When approached, they attacked us. They broke our camera and beat us with wooden sticks. Somehow, we escaped from there. Surprisingly, there were no police personnel or central force,” Ghosh told local media.
In the same Raiganj constituency, in Hemtabad area, local residents staged protests at different polling booths demanding the presence of central forces. Locals said, “police has become TMC’s puppet.”
A group even blocked National Highway-31 claiming they were not allowed to vote in Chopra which comes under Darjeeling constituency.
Locals said that they were threatened by TMC cadres at the polling station. “We want the central forces, only then we will vote,” a local resident said.
Regional news channels showed images of residents of Dighi Colony in Chopra being beaten up by an unidentified group while the state police personnel remained silent spectators.
Also read: The Changing Faces of Political Violence in West Bengal
In Chopra, the situation was grim till almost 2 pm. To take control of the situation, police fired bullets and used batons and tear gas to clear up the National Highway.
Owing to media coverage, officials from the Election Commission visited Chopra and about four hours later, central forces were deployed.
In Jalpaiguri’s Ghughudanga area, the BJP alleged that TMC cadres fired near the polling station. The presiding officer of the booth confirmed to a local news channel that shots were fired, and because of that, no one came to vote for more than an hour.
What is more worrying is that in all the places where polls were conducted on Thursday, shops remained closed throughout the day, and hardly any vehicles were seen on the road. The deserted look in several spots in Bengal largely reflects how violence and trauma have impacted the state.
Political analysts believe that the killing of hundreds of people in the last panchayat election in Bengal has left voters “traumatised”.
“What is a democracy if common people will be killed or beaten up in every election?” political analyst Biswanath Chakraborty demanded.
Attacking the Mamata Banerjee government for disruptions during polling, BJP MP Babul Supriyo said, “Vote should be conducted after imposing President’s rule in West Bengal.”
In another incident in Purulia, Sisupal Sahis, a 22-year-old BJP youth-wing member, was found hanging from a tree in Senabana village. Local police have started an investigation and abstained from connecting it to the ongoing election.
However, the BJP has claimed he was murdered by the goons of Trinamool Congress.
Last year, during the panchayat polls, Bengal witnessed violence in line with what the state has seen since the 1970s. Political tension between the Trinamool and the BJP is now brewing, and violence is expected in different parts of the state.
The question, however, remains: Is anything being done to keep this violence in check, because once the elections are over, these casualties will become nothing more than mere statistics.