12) VIOLENCE MARS LOCAL ELECTIONS IN WEST BENGAL

            As widely feared, the right-wing Trinamool Congress (TMC) government of West Bengal used recent local elections to tighten its grip on power, unleashing a wave of violence and vote-rigging to tilt the results in its favour.

            The Communist Party of India (Marxist), which was the leading force in West Bengal's Left Front state government from 1977 until 2011, reports that the three‑tier panchayat elections were "marred by widespread attacks, intimidation and rigging." (Bengal's unique electoral system, implemented by the Left Front many years ago to expand popular democratic participation, includes the Zilla Parishad, Panchayat Samiti and Gram Panchayat levels.)

            As the CPI(M) points out, thousands of candidates were prevented from filing nominations, and many others were blocked from campaigning. Government supporters kept many Left Front and Congress voters from casting a ballot, and 24 CPI(M) workers and supporters were killed during the campaign.

            "The run‑up to the panchayat election saw determined efforts by the Trinamool Congress government to subvert the polling process itself," says the CPI(M). Bengal's State Election Commission had to go to the Supreme Court to win a decision to conduct "five‑phase polling" and to deploy central police forces along with the state police. The TMC resisted these decisions, which were intended to protect the integrity of the electoral process.

            Despite the court rulings, the TMC's Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her cabinet ministers publicly threatened the State Election Commissioner, and the central police were not deployed with a few exceptions.

            In the run‑up to the elections, around six thousand CPI(M) and Left Front candidates were physically prevented from filing nominations. In the Zilla Parishads in Hooghly, for example, the Left Front was not allowed to nominate in 10 out of 50 seats. As a result, in 6191 seats in the three‑tier panchayats, TMC candidates were unopposed on the ballot.

            During the voting, which took place in five phases between July 11 and July 25, the CPI(M) reports that 4470 polling booths were completely or partially captured by TMC forces, including 909 in Burdwan district, 750 in West Midnapur, 429 in South 24 Parganas, and 400 in Coochbehar. After polling agents of the CPI(M) and the Left Front were driven out, ballot papers were illegally stamped.

            In some areas, people were not allowed to leave their homes to vote. Hundreds of Left Front supporters and workers of other opposition parties were attacked when they tried to vote, suffering serious injuries. Even two members of Bengal's Parliament, Mahendra Roy in Jalpaiguri and Nripen Roy in Coochbehar, were prevented from voting.

            Loyal to the TMC government, the state police refused to intervene. In many instances, the police arrested Left Front supporters or attacked them with lathis (bamboo sticks).

            Despite the orders of the State Election Commission and the courts, TMC motorcycle gangs were allowed to move freely to terrorise the opposition, and to threaten people from going to vote.

            As the CPI(M) concludes, "at no time has such a brazen attack and perversion of the democratic process of elections taken place in West Bengal or in the entire country. The results of such a rigged election can only be a distorted one."

(The above article is from the September 1-15, 2013, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $30/year, or $15 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $45 US per year; other overseas readers - $45 US or $50 CDN per year. Send to People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, BC,