WB Panchayat Polls: People's Resistance and Violence in Elections is new Indication in State Politics

Kolkata: The 2023 Panchayat elections in West Bengal have delivered a strong signal to state politics. It is rare for people to oppose the ruling party on the streets during an election, but this has happened in various districts of the state. For the first time after 12 years of change of power in the state, workers and supporters of the ruling party have had to leave areas owing to popular resistance.

At Mothabari High School in Kaliachak-2 block of Maldah district, where all the ballot boxes are kept, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) alleged that state minister Sabina Yasmin tried to open the boxes and vandalise them. Extreme tension was sparked around this incident on Sunday midnight. CPI(M), Congress workers, and supporters gathered outside the strong room, protesting and accusing the police of inaction.

On Sunday night, many Left Congress and ISF supporters gathered before Saini International School in Uluberia, Howrah; it is the DCRC for Uluberia’s 2nd Block. Residents complain that the ruling party’s MLA, Nirmal Majhi, allegedly went there in the dark of night, tried to open the sealed box and insert fake ballots! On hearing the news, people came down to the streets, and the school was surrounded.

Not just Uluberia or Kaliachak. On Sunday night, such complaints came from Domjur in Howrah and Nandkumar in East Midnipur. Significantly, many people gathered at the moment everywhere and continued to try to resist this incident. This is a new turn in the recent politics of West Bengal. Even during re-polling in the state's 696 booths on Monday, there were reports of resistance from different areas.

Nearly 20 people have died in political clashes in the state since election day on July 8. Out of these, the maximum number of deaths occurred in Murshidabad district, where 11 people died. The total number of fatalities since the nomination phase of the panchayat elections in the state is nearing 40, and it is unclear whether the number will stop here.

In the 2013 and 2018 panchayat elections, mostly activists from the opposition parties lost their lives. Although this time, the picture has been reversed. In many places, the ruling party cadres have been forced to retreat in the face of 'cohesive resistance' by the opposition.

CPI(M) state secretary Md Salim made a post on his Facebook page on the day the nomination phase for the panchayat polls began. It showed a red flag attached to a stick. Salim wrote in the caption of the picture - 'Preparation.'

Saturday's panchayat polls showed a picture of resistance in most places across the state. It was thought that the ‘bossing' of the ruling party would be one-sided. But in the panchayat polls, it was seen that the ruling party had to retreat after being beaten back in many places. In fact, Trinamool has been the worst affected by the death toll in these pre- and post-poll panchayat elections until Monday morning. In at least two areas of the state, ruling party workers were tied to lamp posts and publicly beaten, which was unimaginable in the recent past.

The biggest 'political' question in this situation is – will the opposition’s resistance impact the Lok Sabha polls next year? Where the opposition is strong at the moment, there has been strong resistance. Also, many places have been seen in these Panchayat polls where common people have collectively come out on the streets and resisted the ruling party's tyranny.

In many places, irrespective of party affiliation, people turned against the ruling party. They seized motorcycles and burned them, kicked ballot boxes into drains or ponds. There is only one reason for their anger - they were not allowed to vote. CPI(M), Congress, and BJP supporters could not be distinguished from the crowd.

As the history of West Bengal shows, when the activists of the ruling party are beaten by the opposition, it is understood that the politics of the state have reached a critical juncture. Many are talking about the 2008 Panchayat polls in this context when the Trinamool won the East Medinipur and South 24 Parganas Zilla Parishads. Since then, their rise has begun. The Left was crushed in the Lok Sabha polls the year after that Panchayat poll. After that, the 'change' of 2011 was phased in. But it was only in the 2008 Panchayat polls that the CPI(M) was not 'invincible'. The ruling party can be resisted. The same indication has been found in this year's panchayat elections.

Complaints have also been made about the role of a section of civic volunteers employed at the police station. Allegedly, these civic volunteers, who are mainly politically biased, live under the umbrella of ruling political leaders. As a result, there are a few instances where the news reached the leader before the operation to recover weapons, or anything from the police station was carried out secretly, police officers claimed. Most of the nearly one-and-a-half lakh civic volunteers in the state police force were allegedly recruited on the recommendation of the ruling party's minister-leaders.