Kolkata, July 8 (PTI) The three-tier panchayat polls in West Bengal, upheld the region’s enduring tradition of violence, resulting in the loss of 12 lives on Saturday and a total toll of 30 in the month following the announcement of the elections.
However, compared to previous panchayat polls this figure is an “improvement” if it can be called that. The 2003 panchayat polls gained notoriety for its death toll of 76, with more than 40 killed on the day of the elections.
The 2013 rural polls, held under the supervision of central forces, recorded a casualty figure of 39. While the last panchayat poll held under the supervision of the state police recorded a death toll for the election process period of 30.
In Saturday’s violence, twelve people, including eight from the ruling TMC and one worker each of the BJP, CPI(M), Congress and ISF, died since midnight in the crucial three-tier panchayat polls, officials said.
“We condemn any death or incident of violence. But the fact is elections have been more or less peaceful in majority areas of the state, which the media and the opposition are not talking about,” TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said, defending the state’s record.
He said in comparison to previous elections, there have been fewer instances of violence in this year’s panchayat polls and asserted that “incidents of violence and deaths have gone down drastically.” In 2018 rural polls, the ruling TMC won 90 per cent of the panchayat seats and all 22 zilla parishads. The elections were marred by widespread violence, with the opposition alleging they were prevented from filing nominations in several seats across the state.
“The TMC neither believes in the election nor democracy, and that is why they have let loose such a reign of terror across the state,” BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar said.
The clashes among political parties and attacks on rivals have become all too common during elections in Bengal, indicating the close association between politics and violence in the state.
In the 2021 assembly despite, which was held in eight phases, sporadic incidents of violence were reported, but there were no reports of death in inter-party clashes on polling day.
However, five persons were killed by central forces in Cooch Behar district on the day of the poll when the troops opened fire when alleged miscreants tried to take over a booth.
In the aftermath of the election, West Bengal experienced widespread post-poll violence, where mostly opposition activists were at the receiving end, as the ruling TMC secured a massive victory for the third consecutive time.
“The panchayat elections are not just about victory or defeat. These polls are about livelihood and the economy that keeps the pot boiling.
“Due to lack of industrial development and unemployment in West Bengal, people in rural and semi-urban areas mostly depend on government and panchayat to earn their livelihood, and parties use it to leverage over others,” political scientist Maidul Islam had recently told PTI.
The professor at the Centre for Studies in Social Sciences also pointed out that the money given through the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act and other rural development schemes are not only modes of development but also “breeds corruption and violence” in rural areas and a competition for control over these funds. PTI PNT JRC
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