By Tirthankar Mitra
A high percentage of Opposition parties’ nominees filing nomination and a sharp drop in uncontested seats as compared to 2018 rural polls cannot assure a significant portion of the state populace especially living in the rural areas that panchayat election of West Bengal will be held peacefully, come 8 July. Given the incidents of violence which marred the nomination process, large number of voters as well as activists of the Opposition outfits in the state will be keeping their fingers crossed during the campaign, the polling day and a not too short time span following the declaration of the election results.
Yet a look at the figures can be interpreted as normalcy prevailing at the run-up to the rural poll in the state. Senior Trinamool Congress leaders went about the town telling all and sundry that the percentage of uncontested seats have dropped to a meagre one percent this year vis-a-vis 34 per cent in 2018 rural polls.
The drop in the percentage of uncontested seats is stated to be an indication of intimidation of Opposition candidates taking a backseat. Not quite; many a Opposition candidates wives received white saris, a sign of widowhood no sooner than these TMC big wigs have stopped congratulating their activists.
The tactic which is reported to have evolved in the Left Front regime to intimidate Opposition candidates to stay away from elections has made a comeback. It is a loud and clear message not to campaign vigorously as it may very much amount to tragedy, senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Pradip Bhattacharya said.
The nomination figures indicate CPI(M), Congress and BJP are enthusiastically participating in the rural poll nomination process. While total nomination figures of BJP in rural polls stand at 56,321, the saffron camp has 1058 candidates contesting Zilla Parishad seats, while it has fielded 8882 and 46,381 nominees in panchayat samitis and gram seats respectively
The CPI(M) has 834 nominees contesting in the Zilla Parishad seats. It has fielded 7383 and 40,429 in panchayat samitis and gram panchayat elections and it’s total number of candidates stands at 48,646.
In all, there are 741 Congress candidates contesting in Zilla Parishad seats, while the party has fielded 2804 and 14,205 nominees in panchayat samitis and gram panchayat seats respectively. In all, there are 17,750 Congress candidates in the rural poll fray.
Trinamool Congress has 1079 nominees contesting in Zilla Parishad seats. While 11,527 candidates have been fielded in the panchayat samitis and 73,211 TMC activists are seeking victory in gram panchayat elections. As the ruling dispensation, TMC has fielded 85,817 candidates in this year’s rural polls in the state. It is followed by the BJP, CPI(M) and Congress.
Yet the incidents at Bhangar, Canning, Chopra to name a few spots scarred by violence which have claimed nine lives tell a different story. During Governor C V Anand Bose visits to a trouble spots one of his security personnel had to take away an unexploded bomb f.
The reluctance of the Trinamool run state government to deploy central para military forces does not send a reassuring message to the contestants and the rural voters as well. It does not improve matters for the ruling dispensation that Calcutta High Court has directed that Centre will bear the cost of upkeep of these central personnel.
Yet the security of the contestants, polling personnel as well as the voters look bleak even after the Supreme Court has upheld the order of Calcutta High Court direction of deployment of CPMF. The State Election Commission has sent requisition for 22 companies of Central forces for the same number of districts comprising the state
With 100 personnel in each company, it is a tall order for these men to prevent violence from breaking out during the campaign, polling day and post-poll time span even if they are aided by state policemen. It needs to be mentioned that the central personnel will be guided by state police officers in what is unfamiliar territory for the former.
The security arrangements have failed to satisfy the Opposition parties. While state Congress chief Adhir Ranjan Choudhury and senior CPI(M) leader Sujan Chakraborty felt that the arrangement is belated and the requisition for central forces insufficient, leader of the Opposition, Suvendu Adhikari has threatened to move court in case of any deviation from Supreme Court order.
Opposition parties apart, nearly 12000 Trinamool dissidents being in the poll fray have created problems for the ruling party. Though they are unlikely to win on their own, victory of an Opposition nominee can be ensured by them by splitting votes. Aware of this possibility, the chief minister Mamata Banerjee has asked them to withdraw nominations. She has assured them of looking into their grievances.
With about 5000 nominations being withdrawn over the last two days, the chances of contesting of the dissidents are high. They will remain thorn in side of the party they once belonged to. (IPA Service)