Kolkata: West Bengal Governor Dr. C.V. Ananda Bose has decided to open a “Peace Room” at Raj Bhavan to register the grievances of those being allegedly threatened and facing intimidation ahead of the panchayat polls scheduled for 8 July.
In a late-night communication to the media Saturday, the Raj Bhavan shared the official announcement with a round-the-clock helpline number and an email ID.
It said that in view of “numerous representations from the citizens on criminal intimidation in pre-poll Bengal”, “a help room (Peace Room) has been opened in Raj Bhavan to respond to the grievances of the public. The Peace Room will refer the issues to the Government and State Election Commissioner for appropriate action.”
The move has drawn sharp criticism from the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC), with party MP Kalyan Banerjee claiming, “This is thoroughly unconstitutional, he is trying to run a parallel government.”
“In the name of a Peace Room, he is spreading un-peace. A governor isn’t supposed to function only for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He is only visiting areas where the BJP is asking him to,” he alleged.
While Opposition parties in the state have welcomed the governor’s move, they said his powers are limited.
Speaking to ThePrint, BJP MP and the party’s national vice-president Dilip Ghosh said, “Candidates are being threatened, voters are being threatened, violence has already begun in West Bengal over panchayat polls but the powers of the governor are limited. He can only give instructions, but it is up to the government to pay heed, which I doubt it will.”
CPI(M) leader Samik Lahiri said the governor has no legal provisions to open such a ‘Peace Room’. “The governor is doing what the SEC [state election commission] should do. They should set up a helpline and build the confidence of the voters. The governor has no legal backing to open such a helpline or Peace Room at Raj Bhavan. The governor has no administrative powers.”
Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury added that the governor’s intention may be pious but it will hardly have any impact on ground.
“The Peace Room sounds good but when peace is absent in the state, it is futile to open such a grievance cell. The governor cannot act on this and ultimately has to depend on the state government or the SEC to act on the complaints, which won’t happen.”
As violence was reported earlier this month over filing of nomination between the TMC and opposition parties in Bhangar and Canning in South 24 Parganas, the governor who was visiting Kerala at the time, cut short his trip and returned to the state.
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‘Find lack of confidence in voters’
West Bengal will conduct panchayat polls across 58,513 gram panchayats, and 928 zilla parishads next month. While the Calcutta High Court has ordered the deployment of central forces across the state to conduct free and fair polls, the State Election Commission (SEC) has challenged the order in the Supreme Court.
At least four people have been reportedly killed in alleged pre-poll violence in the state so far.
The governor visited Canning and parts of Bhangar to take stock of the situation last week. He met the stakeholders, administration and even set up a temporary ‘janta darbar’ in Bhangar to hear the grievances of those affected in alleged pre-poll violence.
“I find lack of confidence in the voters, intimidation, strong arm tactics and flexing the muscles are all reported here. This is not acceptable. This goes against democracy and mobocracy seems to be taking over. Violence will not be tolerated, none of those who are involved in creating violence will be spared,” Dr. Bose had said Saturday during his field visit.
According to media reports, the governor had also asked state election commissioner Rajiva Sinha for a meeting, but sources in the election office claimed that the latter skipped the meeting owing to scrutiny work. They said the governor’s office was informed of this over telephone Saturday.
(Edited by Smriti Sinha)
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