It has been just over two weeks since the results of the elections to the 18th Lok Sabha have been declared. Yet, those two weeks seem like an eternity lived under the shadow of terror for the lakhs of karyakartas, voters and supporters of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in West Bengal. Violence while politicking is nothing new in West Bengal, with the state having been witness to a series of political murders in various election cycles since the advent of Communist rule in the state. However, a new & yet unheard of (in liberal democratic societies) phenomenon of post-poll violence has seen the light of day since the assembly elections of 2021.
The ruling party, Trinamool Congress, was on the back foot after a decade of complete electoral dominance in the state, with the main opposition party, BJP, challenging their return to power for the third term.
The May 2, or the day of the election results, was the beginning of a month-long saga of violence, rape, loot, arson, vandalism and more. Fifty-six karyakartas of the BJP were killed, including Manash Saha, the candidate from Canning East. Hundreds of women were raped, and thousands of families were forced to flee and stay in camps in neighbouring states. Crores worth of property were vandalised and set on fire. Many activists and supporters of the BJP were forced to work in other states and are yet to return home due to fear of retribution. The National Human Rights Council and the Hon’ Calcutta High Court took cognisance of the state-sponsored violence. The NHRC, in its observation, said that West Bengal did not have the rule of law, but rather, the law of the ruler prevailed.
The 2024 Lok Sabha elections saw West Bengal voting in 7 phases to ensure complete area domination by the central paramilitary forces and prevent pre-poll violence or untoward incidents. The ruling party, this time, too, was on the back foot due to maladministration, misgovernance, recruitment and ration scams, convictions of senior leaders and rampant minority appeasement; yet, due to malpractices and manipulation with help from a section of the police and the bureaucracy, the TMC managed to ‘win’ 29 seats whilst reducing the BJP to 12. Then onwards, history repeated itself, both as a tragedy and then as a farce.
The post-poll violence started on the day of the declaration of results and has carried on unabated. The pattern of violence this time around has changed, with the number of murders, rape and vandalism drastically reducing, yet the pattern has undergone a sinister change. BJP karyakartas have had their livelihoods and sources of income being systematically targeted, shut down, robbed or looted. There has been a concerted effort to browbeat the opposition into submission to terrorise them into never having the audacity to campaign or contest against the ruling party. The psychological enforcement has been such that many opposition activists, fearing retribution, have taken public vows never to be associated with politics again.
A non-exhaustive account of the kind of rampant violence that has transpired in the last few days would leave readers in shock and disgust, yet this is the sordid saga continuing in West Bengal.
Moumita Singha, opposition leader of the Keshiary Panchayat Samity, Paschim Midnapore, was brutally attacked by the ruling party members whilst the BDO remained a mute witness. Sanjoy Bera, a BJP karyakarta from Debra, Paschim Midnapore, was attacked by the ruling party and then arrested by the police and died in custody.
The Kashinagar Gram Panchayat, Nadia had an elected Panchayat Pradhan of the BJP. This Gram Panchayat office has now been captured by miscreants of the Trinamool who have hoisted their party flag on a government office.
Didar Baksh Mollah an associate of known criminal turned TMC leader Sheikh Shahjahan has been terrorising Schedule caste Hindu villagers in Sandeshkhali who have voted for BJP
Mamoni Das one of the protesters who stood up against the Sandeshkhali atrocities along with her mother Anita Sinha have been violently assaulted by criminals associated with the ruling party.
BJP karyakartas across the state and especially in the district of Coochbehar are having their rations denied to them which they are legally bound to receive under the PM Anna Suraksha Yojana and the food security act.
In urban and semi urban areas the Trinamool has not engaged in violence due the presence of electronic and print media outlets but has taken to cutting off electricity in areas where the residents have not voted for them.
In the heart of Kolkata many gated communities and high rises where majority of the residents voted for the opposition saw garbage being dumped just outside their premises and conservancy service providers not cleaning up the same.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has in the meantime sent a high-level fact-finding team of senior parliamentarians comprising of former union minister Shri Ravishankar Prasad, former DGP Uttar Pradesh Brijlal, former Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Deb and Smt. Kavita Patidar to the state. The leader of the opposition Shri Suvendu Adhikari has taken more than a hundred victims to the Hon’ Governor Shri CV Ananda Bose who were initially denied entry by the Kolkata police on orders of their political bosses. The Hon’ Calcutta high court had to intervene so as to ensure that the Hon’ Governor heard their desperate voices.
The Hon’ Calcutta High Court has warned the state to take pacing steps to quell the violence or it would be forced to deploy central paramilitary forces for the next five years. The remarks of the Hon’ judges have ostensibly fallen on the deaf ears of the state administration. The reader may be forced to ponder if this deteriorating situation in West Bengal requires the Union government to impose article 355 and/or article 356 to save both the fundamental rights of the citizens and the Constitution of India from being trampled under the feet of the ruling dispensation.
