Mrinal K. Biswas
Forebodings were there. People were wondering as to how much violence would be unleashed in panchayat elections this time in West Bengal. Feared perpetrators were the ruling Trinamul Congress led by the maverick Mamata Banerjee. As was expected, widespread violence marred the elections; nearly 30 people died, and there were hundreds of injuries. However, this poll violence did not catch the attention of people across the country, because of the excitement generated by the turbulent Karnataka assembly elections which took place at around the same time.
The brook-no-opposition policy of Bengal’s ruling party is no more a secret. It is now well known that the Trinamul Congress wants opposition-mukt (opposition-free) bodies at different levels. The panchayat elections were held under that fearsome pressure. Lumpen elements with adequate backings manipulated the entire poll procedure, from the very beginning when nomination filings are done to the last stage of vote counting. It was indeed a massacre of democracy in the State.
The State-appointed Election Commissioner apparently failed to act independently. State interference in the affairs of the State election commission were very visible to all. The Commission’s notifications and decisions drew widespread opposition protests. It attracted flak even from people like Somnath Chatterjee, former Lok Sabha Speaker and distinguished lawyer. The Commission was forced to approach the Calcutta High Court and even the Supreme Court under pressure from the opposition parties.
The opposition parties in the electoral arena were the CPI(M)-led Left Front, Congress and BJP. None of these parties were any match to Trinamul in the mobilisation of lumpen elements. Even before the election day, these elements instilled a sense of fear in the minds of the rural citizens with demonstrations of their fire power. Ironically, it was the CPI(M) which had in its heydays terrorised the opposition and the voters. Now, Trinamul has imitated this example with great success. No less a handicap for the opposition was the apathy shown by the apparatus of the State machinery, especially the police, which completely failed to do its democratic duty. And so a cakewalk for the Trinamul Congress was a foregone conclusion. Mamata Banerjee has however claimed that the elections were more peaceful than in the past, showing that democracy is truly alive in Bengal, and the election results demonstrate the tremendous support her party continues to enjoy.
When one comes to cold figures it will reveal that no opposition parties could file nominations or rather were not allowed to file nominations for altogether 20,076 seats spread over gram panchayats, panchayat samitis and district councils (zila parishads). Hence, the Trinamul Congress won these seats uncontested, which constitute 34.20 per cent of the total panchayat seats. Elections in the rest of the seats were held in extraordinary circumstances, amid polling officers resigning and several incidents of ballot papers being tampered by armed gangs invading the booths. Opposition polling agents were driven out in several places. These elements created a reign of terror outside several polling centres, with the police remaining mere onlookers. Opposition party activists and innocent voters under attack left the polling booths in many cases. Predictably, Trinamul swept almost the entire panchayat polls, with minor aberrations here and there.
