In keeping with the tradition, West Bengal has witnessed violence during panchayat election that has left at least 20 people dead and hundreds injured. The expectation of people after the change of guard in Kolkata is shattered now because of deteriorating law and order situation. People thought that the era of violence and exploitation of different sorts would be over. But it seems that violence has become part and parcel of the election process in Bengal.
The election in the first phase had been more or less peaceful. There had been some stray incidents of violence. According to the police reports 11 people were injured in a clash between Trinamool Congress and Congress workers at Sabong in West Midnapore district. Three persons were killed during the second phase. Burdwan alone accounted for the three deaths with Sheikh Hasmat, the husband of a CPI (M) candidate, Manowara Bibi, being killed in a bomb attack at Jamuria in Madhudanga gram panchayat. Rajkumar Kora was lynched after a bomb was thrown in the same panchayat area. The third person was killed in a bomb attack in Mangalkote area. Sporadic violence broke out during the third phase. Two persons were killed while the body of a teenager was fished out from a pond, as stray incidents of violence, booth jamming and rigging were reported.
22 July was the bloodiest day so far as wide spread violence took place in the penultimate phase. Seven persons including a woman were killed. One of the victims died when central security forces opened fire following an altercation with voters outside a booth in Rathua in Malda district. While three persons including a woman were killed in Murshidabad, two died in Birbhum and one in Nadia district. Political clashes and electoral malpractices such as threatening and influencing voters and abduction of polling agents were reported from different parts of the districts under poll. There were reports of post-poll violence as well in Murshidabad.
The situation that prevails in the state invites grave concern. The condition has deteriorated since the ascendance of the ideologically vogue party. The chief minister has certainly failed at the administrative level. It seems that she is not well equipped to handle the law and order problem of the state. The opposition parties claim that the police have become “the frontal organisation” of the ruling party. It can’t be denied outright since none can disagree to the fact that the state forces were mere spectators of the violence that took place in several places of the state. The state government did not intend to conduct free and fair election which is clear from the fact that the central forces were not deployed inside the polling booths. They know that once the central forces allowed to enter into the booth nobody could complain of coercion or intimidation. One more phase is yet to be over. The woes of the state will increase manifold if miscreants are not punished and necessary steps are not taken to ensure safety and security of the citizens.