Tag: Rahul Sinha

Bengal: EC Bars BJP’s Rahul Sinha from Campaigning for 48 Hours, Slaps Notice on Dilip Ghosh

Sinha had said that the central forces “should have killed eight rather than four people” in Cooch Behar’s Sitalkuchi.

New Delhi: The Election Commission on Tuesday barred BJP leader Rahul Sinha from campaigning for 48 hours and slapped a notice on its West Bengal chief Dilip Ghosh over their “provocative” remarks on the killing of four people in firing by CISF during poll violence in Sitalkuchi, saying such statements could have a serious impact on law and order.

Strongly condemning Sinha’s reported remarks that central forces “should have killed eight rather than four people”, the EC said he made “highly provocative statements mocking human life and inciting the forces that could have serious law and order implications”.

The Commission said it found the remarks of the leaders violative of the model code and various provisions of the Representation of the People Act and the Indian Penal Code.

The high-octane assembly election campaign in the state, where the BJP and the Trinamool Congress have unleashed a no-holds-barred attack against each other, has seen the EC clamping down on leaders of both parties for their objectionable utterances.

On Monday, the poll panel barred West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee from campaigning for 24 hours for her remarks against central forces and a statement that allegedly had religious overtones.

The EC took suo motu cognisance of Rahul Sinha’s remarks and said it decided to issue the order without giving any notice to him due to the urgency of the matter.

Also read: ‘Mini-Pakistan’: EC Lets Off BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari With Light Rap for Remark

After the Trinamool Congress approached the Commission against Ghosh over his reported remarks that there would be “Sitalkuchi in several places”, the EC asked him to respond to its notice making his stand clear on the issue by 10 AM on Wednesday.

The notice said the Commission is of the considered view that Dilip Ghosh has in violation of various clauses of the Model Code of Conduct and provisions of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 and the Indian Penal Code “made statements that are provocative and can seriously incite the emotions”.

This could “lead to a breakdown of law and order thereby adversely affecting the election process”, the notice said.

The ban on Sinha begins at 12 noon on Tuesday and will remain in force till 12 noon of April 15, the order said.

The order quoted the text of Sinha’s speech in which he said, “The central forces have given them a befitting answer. If they do it again they will be dealt again in a befitting manner.

“The central forces should have killed eight persons instead of four in Sitalkuchi. The central forces should be issued a show-cause notice as to why they have killed only four of them.”

Also read: Election Commission Bans Mamata Banerjee From Campaigning for 24 Hours

The order said, “Commission hereby strongly condemns the above statements made by Rahul Sinha, BJP, and sternly warns him to be careful from using such statements while making public utterances during the period when Model Code of Conduct is in force,” according to the order.

Four men were killed at a booth in the Sitalkuchi assembly constituency in Cooch Behar during the fourth phase polling on April 10 as CISF personnel opened fire after coming under attack from locals who “attempted to snatch their rifles”.

The EC notice against Ghosh cited his alleged remarks in which the BJP leader said, “Where did so many naughty boys come from? Those naughty boys were shot at yesterday in Shitalkuchi. These naughty boys will not be there in Bengal.”

“This is just the beginning. Those who thought that the central forces’ rifles were meant to be just for a show have well understood now the power of cartridges… there will be Shitalkuchi in several places. So be careful”.

He also reportedly said that “this will be carried on throughout Bengal. Those who will take the law in their own hands will be given a befitting answer.”

The eight-phase assembly polls in West Bengal are being held between March 27 and April 29.

‘Not Four, Eight People Should Have Been Shot Dead in Sitalkuchi’: BJP Leader Rahul Sinha

The TMC has asked the Election Commission to take action against BJP leaders propagating violence.

New Delhi: A few days after violence marred the fourth phase of the West Bengal assembly elections with the Cooch Behar firing incident, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) senior state leader, Rahul Sinha, said the security forces should have killed eight people instead, and not just four, news reports said.

On Saturday, violence broke out at one polling station of the Sitalkuchi seat in Cooch Behar, where four people died after the CISF fired at them and one died due to firing by unknown persons.

According to reports, police said the firing occurred after some people tried to “snatch weapons” from the CISF.

“Not four, eight people should have been shot dead in Sitalkuchi. The central forces should be issued a showcause notice asking why they killed only four and not eight…Goons are trying to deprive people of their democratic rights. Central forces responded appropriately. If it happens again, they will answer again,” Sinha told the Indian Express on Sunday evening.

Sinha reportedly blamed the Trinamool Congress (TMC) for the fifth death that occurred on the same day. “An 18-year-old boy was shot dead in public at a polling station for supporting BJP and their leader is Mamata Banerjee,” he told the daily.

In a similar incident, West Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh Sunday said more Cooch Behar-like killings may happen in the next phase of assembly elections if “dustu chelera” (bad boys) do not behave in the coming election phases.

Also read: Why Bengal’s Elections Are Far More Complex Than TMC’s Corruption and BJP’s Communal Drive

TMC urges strict action against BJP leaders for “instigating” violence

According to PTI, the TMC on Monday urged the Election Commission to take strict action against BJP leaders who allegedly made inflammatory remarks over the Cooch Behar firing incident that claimed the lives of “four unarmed civilians”.

In a letter to West Bengal chief electoral officer Ariz Aftab, the party said several BJP leaders, including Ghosh, were “instigating” violence with their warnings of more Cooch Behar-like episodes.

Citing the first instance, the letter said, “On April 11, 2021, at a rally in Baranagar, Dilip Ghosh said people have seen what happened at Sitalkuchi and warned that if anyone oversteps boundary, the incident of Sitalkuchi will be repeated. An official complaint has already been lodged with the CEO.”

The letter, signed by TMC MPs Sudip Bandyopadhyay and Derek O’Brien, also mentioned of similar remarks made by BJP leaders Rahul Sinha and Sayantan Basu.

“The top brass of the BJP has been actively condoning the murder and brazenly suggesting that more innocent lives should have been lost at the hands of central armed police forces,” the TMC said.

The party demanded that “appropriate legal action, including criminal proceedings, be taken against Ghosh, Sinha, Basu and others for their inflammatory statements”.

(With inputs from PTI)

What BJP’s National Committee Rejig Means to Poll-Bound Bengal

With the elevation of Mukul Roy, the party has made one thing abundantly clear. Defectors will be rewarded.

Kolkata: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s recent reshuffling of its national committee results in two additions from West Bengal. The state has been in focus for the party, as it is scheduled to go to Assembly polls in less than a year. The change, however, means more than just an increase in the state party leadership. It sends a crucial message: defectors from other parties will find rewards in BJP.

Mukul Roy, a long-time right-hand of Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee, who joined the BJP is 2017, is now one of the party’s national vice-presidents. It is after 27 years that a leader from West Bengal has been named a BJP national vice-president. The last person from Bengal to serve in this position was Vishnu Kant Shastri, between 1988 and 1993.

Among the other changes are the replacement of BJP veteran Rahul Sinha, a former state unit president, with newcomer Anupam Hazra, as national secretary. Darjeeling MP Raju Singh Bista is now a national spokesperson.

Also read: With Bengal Polls on the Horizon, BJP Rakes up Demand for Gorkhaland Again

Hazra, an assistant professor at Visva Bharati University, had joined BJP in March 2019, following in the footsteps of Mukul Roy. Bista, a Manipur-born, Delhi-based entrepreneur, is the first Bengal BJP leader to be named a national spokesperson.

The most impactful of the changes, of course, was the appointment of Roy and Hazra. The appointments came following widespread talks in West Bengal in July and August about the possibility of Roy, who was perceived to be unhappy with the lack of recognition in the BJP, returning to the TMC. Though Roy had repeatedly rubbished the talks as rumours, BJP’s national leadership did reach out to Roy to find out if he had grievances.

File image of Mukul Roy. Photo: PTI/Files

A former railway minister, Roy has been a member of the BJP’s national executive, a position not considered an influential one. Now, he shares a position at par with the likes of former BJP chief ministers Vasundhara Raje of Rajasthan and Raghubar Das of Jharkhand.

Political analysts see in this dual change the BJP’s attempt not only at assuring Roy of proper recognition in the party but also in sending a clear message to those in other parties who might be considering a move to the BJP.

Anupam Hazra. Photo: Official Twitter account

The appointment of Hazra, considered a political lightweight, hints at the larger political message, political observers felt. He had won the 2014 elections on a TMC ticket and was expelled from the party in January 2019. Contesting on a BJP ticket, he lost the 2019 elections.

According to psephologist Biswanath Chakraborty, a professor of political science at Rabindra Bharati University in Kolkata, the changes make evident the fact that BJP is prioritising a drive to get leaders from other parties to defect to it ahead of the assembly election.

He felt that Bista’s appointment as a national spokesperson was aimed to amp up the anti-TMC rhetoric at the national level ahead of the Assembly elections.

“Saturday’s appointment would not only give Roy a great deal of confidence to move ahead with a proper defection drive but will also give confidence to those in other parties considering changing camps. With this, BJP has given the clear message that newcomers would be welcomed well,” Chakraborty said.

After joining BJP in November 2017, Roy got two sitting TMC MPs, two sitting TMC MLAs, two sitting Left MLAs a and a youth leader to defect ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. Three of them won the Lok Sabha elections on BJP tickets. Since then, eight more TMC MLAs have joined the BJP and seven of them came through Roy.

Udayan Bandyopadhyay, who teaches political science at Bangabasi College in Kolkata, said that pleasing Mukul Roy was the principle motive behind the changes.

“Mukul Roy has been pleased not only with a high post but also with the elevation of one of his loyalists. Clearly, the BJP is banking on him to get leaders from TMC, Left and the Congress to join BJP,” Bandyopadhyay said.


He, however, predicted that this could also create resentment among BJP old-timers. “The BJP’s old-timers will not take these changes in good humour. This could intensify the factionalism which is already troubling the BJP in Bengal,” Bandyopadhyay said.

Indications of resentment among BJP veterans and those who came from a background in the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the BJP’s parent organisation, were clear on Saturday itself. Replacing Sinha with Hazra, for instance, is a sore point.

“Those who are ideologically committed to the cause of Hindutva and those who gave everything to expand the party in the state are being neglected to appease newcomers, mostly opportunists. This is very upsetting,” said a BJP state unit member who did not want to be named.

Also read: Armed With Doles, Mamata Banerjee Is Out to Counter BJP’s Popularity Among Her Lost Voters

Sinha, who served as state unit president for two terms before being made the national secretary, did not hide his displeasure.

In a video statement uploaded on Twitter on Saturday evening, Sinha said, “I served the BJP for 40 years. And the reward is that I have to make way for those coming from the TMC. There cannot be anything more unfortunate. I will not say anything in favour of or against the party’s way of rewarding me. I will make my future plans clear in another 10-12 days.”


According to several state unit members, there are three factions in the BJP Bengal unit. One functions under state unit president  Dilip Ghosh, general secretary (organisation) Subrato Chatterjee and national joint general secretary (organisation) Shiv Prakash, all of whom were pracharaks of the RSS.

The other faction comprises Kailash Vijayvargiya and Mukul Roy and are believed to enjoy the backing of Union minister Babul Supriyo and Rajya Sabha member Swapan Dasgupta on strategy matters. Rahul Sinha had his own third set of followers, though his influence had been on the wane.

A section of Bengal BJP leaders also feared that Roy could have a greater say in the selection of candidates for the 2021 Assembly elections. Since 2018, Roy has been named the chairman of the BJP’s election management committee for three major elections – the panchayat polls in 2018, Lok Sabha election 2019 and the municipal elections in 2020. In the Lok Sabha elections, it was clear that Mukul Roy had had his say in the BJP’s choice of candidates.

“Now that he is holding a position that can be considered equal to the state president Dilip Ghosh’s, Roy will have a greater say in the selection of candidates and defectors from the TMC, the Left and the Congress may get priority over BJP veterans,” said a state unit secretary who did not want to be identified.

Biswanath Chakraborty, too, read the situation similarly. “Now, if Roy is also named the chairman of the Assembly elections management committee, his clout in the candidate selection process would increase many times,” he said.

Roy is perceived to be close to Kailash Vijayvargiya, the BJP’s national general secretary in charge of Bengal.

Snigdhendu Bhattacharya is a Kolkata-based journalist and author, most recently, of Mission Bengal: A Saffron Experiment.

Prashant Kishor’s I-PAC Interfering in Bengal Govt Affairs, Says BJP

TMC and I-PAC have both denied such allegations.

Kolkata: The Bharatiya Janata Party’s West Bengal unit on Sunday charged poll strategist Prashant Kishor and his team members with interfering in the functioning of state government officers and asking senior officials to take orders from them.

The ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) and Kishor’s organisation, the Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC), denied the allegations.

Following reverses in the Lok Sabha polls, the TMC has appointed the I-PAC to shore up its popularity in the state ahead of the assembly election in 2021.


As suggested by Kishor, TMC supremo and chief minister Mamata Banerjee has launched a helpline number and a website to enable people to directly contact the party with their complaints and suggestions.

Citing media reports, BJP national secretary Rahul Sinha claimed that Kishor and his team members are visiting government offices and, in the name of seeking feedback of the people, ordering officers what they should or should not do.

“We have no problem if the TMC hires Kishor to seek advice. The TMC is a sinking ship and neither Kishor nor any other poll strategist would be able to save Mamata Banerjee,” Sinha said.

“They are interfering with the work assigned to government officials. This is alarming and unacceptable. How can a party (TMC) politicise government functioning? This has to stop immediately,” Sinha said.

Reacting to the allegations, state parliamentary affairs minister and senior TMC leader Partha Chatterjee said the allegations are baseless.

“The media reports and the BJP’s allegations – both are baseless. Nothing of this sort has happened. No one is interfering with the functioning of the government. The government is functioning on it’s own and our party is functioning on it’s own,” he said.

Officials of the I-PAC, headed by Kishor, also denied the allegations.

Besides launching the helpline number and the website, the TMC has also unveiled a massive public outreach programme under which over 1,000 party leaders will visit 10,000 villages over the next 100 days to understand the people’s problems and redress their grievances.

(PTI)

Elections 2019 | The Battle Between TMC and BJP in West Bengal

The state has 42 Lok Sabha seats.

At least two of West Bengal’s three voting constituencies experienced violence today, police clashing with members of the public who claimed they had been prevented from voting by large groups of men. Despite this, West Bengal boasted having amongst the highest voter turnout in the country, 76.42%, by the end of the second phase of voting.

This article has been updated to reflect the poll numbers for the state with ECI figures as of 10pm Thursday.

*

As West Bengal moves towards the second phase of elections on April 18, all eyes are fixed on the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the newly emergent opposition, the Bharatiya Janata party (BJP).

With 42 Lok Sabha seats, Bengal ranks among the key states the BJP is concentrating on. The party, which before 2014 was outside the electoral pale, now hopes to substantively increase its tally. Currently, the BJP has two Lok Sabha MPs in the state. With 34 MPs, the TMC is clearly holding the electoral sway, while the Communist Party of India (Marxist)’s tally has crashed to two, and the Congress’s to four.

In 2011, the political ground in Bengal shifted in a major way, when the CPI(M)-led Left Front government, after uninterruptedly ruling Bengal for 34 years, ceded power to the TMC led by Mamata Banerjee.

Since that defining political moment, the TMC has gone from strength to strength. It won a second consecutive assembly term in 2016, increasing its tally of seats from 184 to 211 in a 294-member legislature. The CPI(M), which once ran a powerful political and administrative machinery for over three decades, barely has any visible presence on the ground today. Battling a spate of defections to the ruling TMC, the Congress, too, has been hollowed out.

Also read: Explainer: The Defection Story Playing Out in West Bengal

Emergence of the BJP

However, the most striking recent political transformation is the emergence of BJP as the state’s principal opposition party. The BJP’s political ascension in Bengal coincided with the installation of a Narendra Modi-led NDA government at the Centre in 2014. The party’s vote-share shot up from 6.14% in 2009 to 17.02 in 2014. The BJP is noticeably present across Bengal. While political analysts seem to agree that the BJP’s vote share will increase even more in the 2019 elections, the question of the moment is how many seats the party will get.

BJP president Amit Shah is targeting to win 50% of the seats in Bengal.

Like in 2014, the TMC, in this election too, is locked in a four-cornered contest, with the TMC, Left, Congress and the BJP competing for all the 42 seats.

Main governance issues

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee. Credit: Reuters/Rupak De Chowdhuri

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Credit: Reuters/Rupak De Chowdhuri

Mamata Banerjee came to power in 2011 on the slogan on Maa, Maati, Maanush, which was coined during the mass movement against the Left Front government-sponsored land acquisition in the villages of Singur and Nandigram.

Also read | When a Bengali Film Star Contests the Lok Sabha Elections

After coming to power, the TMC chief minister has announced a number of welfare schemes, notable among which is Kanyashree, a scheme for empowering girls through education. Banerjee has claimed that her government’s Khadya Sathi scheme of providing rice at Rs 2 is ensuring food security to 90% people in Bengal.

The TMC government however is on the back foot on jobs, with large numbers of educated and uneducated, skilled and non-skilled people moving to other states for jobs.

Polarising campaign

The BJP is leveraging three emotive issues –  the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, National Register Commission and Bangladeshi immigration – to influence voters in Bengal.  One of the party’s main charges against Mamata is about her “appeasement politics”. The Muslim voting population, standing at 30%, constitutes a solid support base for the TMC.

A flash protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019, was carried out near the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on January 30, 2019. Credit: MSAD/Facebook

Banerjee has been at the forefront of opposing the NRC and the Citizenship Amendment bill. The chief minister has alleged that the bills are aimed at making people stateless refugees. Both NRC and Citizenship Bill however have emerged as key issues in north Bengal, especially in Jalpaiguri, Raiganj and Darjeeling constituencies which will be going to vote on April 18. The region has 20% Hindu refuges and 30% Muslim settlers from Bangladesh.

Some important candidates and constituencies

Among TMC’s film celebrity nominees are Moon Moon Sen in Asansol, Nusrat Jahan in Basirhat and Mimi Chakraborty in Jadavpur constituency. Sen is pitted against BJP cabinet minister Babul Supriyo, currently representing Asansol. Chakraborty is pitted against CPI(M)’s Bikash Bhattacharya and BJP’s Anupam Hazra, who has defected from the TMC.

BJP has put up Rahul Sinha, the party’s national secretary from Kolkata North constituency, while Dilip Ghosh has been fielded from Medinipur. The CPI(M)’s sitting MP Mohammad Salim will contest against Congress’s erstwhile Union minister Priyaranjan Das Munshi’s wife Deepa Das Munshi from the Raiganj constituency.

Also read | Repressed Histories Shed Light on the Right-Wing’s Growth in Bengal

Mausam Noor, twice elected Congress MP from Malda North constituency and niece of former Congress minister Ghani Khan Chowdhury, is representing this seat as a TMC candidate in this election.

TMC’s former railway minister Dinesh Trivedi who has won the Barrackpore seat twice, is pitted against former TMC and now BJP candidate Arjun Singh at the constituency.

Former IPS officer Bharati Ghosh, once considered close to Mamata Banerjee, who recently defected to BJP, is representing the Ghatal constituency. She is pitted against present TMC MP and film star Dev.

The constituencies going to poll on April 18 are as follows: Jalpaiguri, Darjeeling, Raiganj.

In a Blow to Free Media, CPI(M) Tripura Mouthpiece’s Licence Cancelled

The Registrar of Newspapers for India (RNI), the newspaper-licensing authority under the government of India, invalidated the ‘certificate of registration’ awarded to the ‘Daily Desher Katha’ that it had issued the same day.

New Delhi: In what appears to be yet another attempt at crackdown on free media, the Union government has cancelled the registration of Daily Desher Katha, a Communist Party of India (Marxist)-backed Bangla newspaper. In an October 1, 2018 order, the Registrar of Newspapers for India (RNI), the newspaper-licensing authority under the government of India, invalidated its ‘certificate of registration’ awarded to the Tripura-based daily that it had issued the same day.

The RNI order stated that its decision to revoke the certification was based on the Agartala district collector’s information that a subordinate state official had “cancelled” the “authentication” of the declaration submitted by the newspaper’s editor, Samir Paul. However, the newspaper is vehemently contesting the decision and claims that the RNI order is part of the BJP-led state government’s multiple attempts in the recent past to silence opposition voices.  

Speaking to The Wire, Rahul Sinha, senior reporter with the daily, said, “As a daily, Desher Katha started publishing from August 15, 1979. It is a well-established newspaper in Tripura. But ever since the BJP formed the government in Tripura, the state government is determined to close it down. We have been facing threats and bureaucratic hurdles constantly, our reporters are being beaten up, and our hawkers and agents are being threatened to stop distributing our newspaper.”

Alleging political vendetta, Sinha said, “The cancellation of our registration might be the first instance in the history of Indian journalism when the RNI withdrew its own order hours after it issued it. This is a clear case of gagging and an attack on fundamental rights and the whole democratic structure.”

Sinha was referring to the RNI order, dated October 1, in which the agency issued a revised registration for the daily only to render it invalid within a day.

Sinha outrightly denied that it had provided wrong details in its declaration to the RNI, a reason that the agency used to cancel its registration.

Background

“At every stage of our evolution, Desher Katha has furnished every detail to the authorities. Desher Katha started as a daily which was owned by the CPI(M) state committee of Tripura. Our editor/publisher was Gautam Das. In subsequent years, we had to shift our office, printing press, and place of publication for various reasons. All these changes were duly informed to the the district collector, who is the representative of the RNI in the districts,” Sinha said.

He added that in 1994, when Desher Katha changed its office, it informed the authorities by submitting all the relevant affidavits. And then, in 2012, it did the same when the CPI(M) state committee transferred its ownership to a registered society, or, in 2015, when a new editor/publisher Samir Paul was appointed by the society.

“We submitted all the relevant affidavits to the collector when we formed a society so that he could inform the RNI, which would then update its record about us. But it was only in July this year that we found out that none of these records were updated by the RNI,” Sinha said.

Thus, the daily requested the district collector to remind the RNI to update its records. Sinha said, “On July 4 this year, the collector informed us in writing that he had all our papers which have already been verified and authenticated. And that he would now send those to the RNI for updation.

“The response came almost two months after one Shyamal Debnath moved the court of the district magistrate to say that the address of the printing press mentioned on our website does not match the one registered in the RNI. None of it was our fault as the RNI had not updated its records,” Sinha added.   

Meanwhile, on September 1, 2018, the newspaper society, on the advice of its lawyers, formed a registered trust, and as a result, there was yet another change of ownership. The relevant affidavits in this regard were also submitted by the daily at the collector’s office, Sinha claimed. 

However, this is when trouble for the daily started. Despite informing the daily that its papers were all authenticated in July, the collector issued a notice seeking clarification from the paper in September. He was acting on Debnath’s complaint. Three hearings on this matter happened through September.

When the RNI issued a revised registration order for the newspaper on October 1, the collector objected to the order by informing the agency of Debnath’s complaint and that the sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) of Agartala city had “cancelled the authentication” of the declaration submitted by the newspaper’s editor.

Political vendetta?

The changing stances of the district authority over the last few months is what has led the Desher Katha officials to believe that the RNI order is a result of the state government’s vindictiveness.

“Biplab Deb’s government came to power on March 3, 2018. From the morning of March 4, all the transport depots of the state were taken over by the BJP members. And they are heckling and threatening our distributors to stop our circulation. As a result, our circulation has dropped to a mere 8000 copies a day from around 53000 before March,” Sinha said.

He added that the BJP government had also stopped government advertisements to the newspaper, but the decision was revoked after the newspaper appealed to various authorities. The Congress government in the state from 1988 to 1992, too, had stopped government advertisements to the paper, following which Desher Katha got the decision reversed by moving the Gauhati high court and the Press Council of India (PCI).

“We know for a fact that state BJP secretary Rajeev Bhattacharya and other BJP members went to meet the DM at his office after he concluded the hearings on Debnath’s complaint,” Sinha said. He also alleged that the SDM, City was severely rebuked by higher officials for authenticating the declaration submitted by the daily to the DM. “As a result, the SDM was forced to cancel his own authentication, which became the basis for the RNI’s eventual decision to revoke our registration.”

There are hundreds of newspapers in India. The RNI has not updated many of their records. Why would it then single us out and revoke its registration order? There’s definitely something fishy about it,” Sinha said.

Desher Katha is planning to move the courts and approach the PCI to intervene in the matter. 

Meanwhile, the CPI(M) politburo in a statement condemned the RNI’s action “a brazen attack on the freedom of the press.” “The district magistrate of West Tripura has cancelled the registration of the newspaper on flimsy and dubious grounds and consequently the RNI has also withdrawn the certificate of registration,” the statement said, adding that “Desher Katha is a prominent newspaper of Tripura of forty years standing.”

Many in Tripura believe that the move against the CPI(M) mouthpiece could not be seen in isolation and that it was a part of the continuing attacks on the party’s rank and file ever since the BJP came to power in the state.

“It is an attack on the democratic structure. Only recently, more than 60% of elected members in the panchayats from CPI(M) were forced to resign. The state government then announced the bypolls, which turned out to be a joke as in most of the places, our candidates were not allowed to even submit our nomination papers. It is unprecedented that as a result 96% of the bypoll seats were won unopposed by the BJP,” a Tripura-based political observer, who preferred not to be named, told The Wire.

Central Forces Let Down Bengal Voters on First Day of Polling

In a chilling reminder of what happened in 2014 – when the Central forces were mostly confined to the barracks while the state police was given full charge of security in and outside the polling stations.

A Central force jawan checks voter identity cards at a polling booth during the 1st phase West Bengal Assembly Elections in West Medinipur on Monday. Credit: PTI

A Central force jawan checks voter identity cards at a polling booth during the 1st phase West Bengal Assembly Elections in West Medinipur on Monday. Credit: PTI

Kolkata: The first day of first phase of polling in West Bengal was a test for the Election Commission. Though, barring a few incidents of booth capturing and rigging, the vote was peaceful and bigh in the 18 assembly constituencies of Jangalmahal (a turnout of 80% was recorded), the role of the Central forces and the way the EC turned a blind eye to that, have given rise to serious apprehensions about the rest of the five phases of polls in the state.

In a chilling reminder of what happened in 2014 – when the Central forces were mostly confined to the barracks while the state police was given full charge of security in and outside the polling stations – this time too the Central forces were neither seen conducting flag marches on polling day in sensitive areas nor were they seen establishing area domination.

The special observers – flying squads formed by the EC for the specific purpose of quick intervention – were not seen throughout the day. However, the EC announced from Delhi that it has asked the chief election officer, Sunil Gupta to respond to media reports that highlighted incidents of disturbances in the poll process and report back to the commission.

Though there was no such reports of large-scale capture of polling booths by the ruling Trinamool Congress, there were two incidents from Bankura’s Taldangra constituency and West Medinipur’s Salboni where booths were allegedly captured by the party’s cadres. Also, in some areas of Bankura and Purulia, in violation of the EC’s order, the state police were positioned inside the booths while Central forces were pushed outside.

Opposition parties and members of civil society are apprehensive that the passive role of the Central forces on the first day of the elections will only encourage the ruling party’s cadres to go for large-scale violence on the remaining five days of polling.

In 2014, taking advantage of the passive role of the Central forces, the ruling Trinamool Congress workers engaged in large scale rigging in a number of Lok Sabha constituencies. Voting was marred by violence, with attacks on opposition workers and polling agents. The Election Commission was accused of doing nothing to protect the voters. Aware of that experience, the EC took special care over the past one and a half months to assure the voters of Bengal that it would be holding elections in a free and fair manner. For that, no less than 700 companies of Central paramilitary forces have been deployed – or are about to be deployed – across the length and breadth of the state.

Chief election commissioner Naseem Zaidi visited the state twice and held meetings with the state administration, leaders of political parties, media persons and civil society members, and announced a number of confidence building measures so that voters could come forward to cast their votes without any fear. Accordingly, the Central paramilitary forces started conducting flag marches in the districts, mostly in sensitive and vulnerable areas. Zaidi assured the voters of Bengal that polling booths would be manned by the Central forces alone, and that the state police would be responsible for managing the queues in front of the booths. Moreover, that the Central forces would take control of the adjacent areas and go deep into the villages to establish ‘area domination’ so that voters could approach polling booths without fear. “There will be 100% availability of Central paramilitary forces in all the polling stations. They will be available well in advance and be used for area domination and confidence building measures”, Zaidi had said in a press meet in Kolkata in December, 2015. He reiterated this position again and again. In fact the Central forces started arriving from March 1, 2016 onwards, and began their flag march in sensitive areas.

Why then were these forces not made visible outside most polling stations ? Even if the Central forces were deployed in more than 80% of the total 4945 polling stations, there were 250 companies of paramilitary forces pressed into service on the first day’s poll. Why were they not seen on the roads? Also, the EC has deployed 14 general observers, 676 micro observers and two helicopters. The helicopters were not seen flying, the observers were not seen present at the places where disturbances occurred. At Aadharnayan village under Salboni constituency, six media persons were attacked and beaten up by TMC musclemen when they went there to check a case of booth capture. The Central forces present in front of the polling stations stood watching, and did nothing to rescue them. Later on, when more media persons went to that area, the jawans of the Central forces denied them entry to the village. There was no immediate response from the EC. Instead, it held that voting in Bengal was incident-free.

However, opposition party leaders are less than satisfied. While the state Congress leader, Adhir Choudhury said he was frustrated seeing the role of the EC, BJP leader Rahul Sinha said that his party had expected a more pro-active role and would take the issue up with the commission. The Left, however, is less vocal. Suryakanta Mishra, state secretary of CPI(M), is rather upbeat and said that in Jangalmahal the people have “given a fitting reply” to chief minister Mamata Banerjee. Mohammed Salim felt that it could not be said that the entire voting process was free from coercion – that the TMC cadre, with a section of the state police, tried to influence the election process, but the people largely foiled their attempt. However, a section of political observers and members of civil society have begun speculating about a ‘secret deal between Modi and Didi.  Samir Aich and Bolan Gangopadhyaya of Save Democracy Forum say the state government is controlling the state police and the Central government is controlling the Central forces, thus rendering the EC helpless. If this becomes a trend, that will only embolden the TMC cadres to become more aggressive and act accordingly, like they did in 2014. On April 11, the second phase of polling will see 34 constituencies casting ballots. If the EC does not take some measures to restore confidence among the voters before that, it would be a repeat of 2014 elections in Bengal, they fear.