Lok Sabha elections 2019: Poll violence still regular feature in Bengal
With elections to the Lok Sabha entering its final leg, the incapability of the Election Commission of India’s (EC) machinery to ensure total free and fair elections in West Bengal is on full display. Sporadic violence happened during all the six phases of polling so far, the last one with as many as 71,000 paramilitary forces deployed in eight constituencies. In the sixth phase of polling, candidate Bharati Ghosh, a former IPS officer, was attacked twice by local goons when she tried to visit polling stations in her Ghatal constituency.
Ghatal had drawn a lot of interest as Bharati was once known as CM Mamata Banerjee’s closest aide. The no-nonsense officer was a decorated UN peacekeeping force veteran. In Bengal, she won laurels from Mamata for driving out Maoists from Jungle Mahal before their relationship soured. Bharati joined the BJP in February and got the Ghatal ticket. If she cannot move around freely and safely despite the full deployment of security forces, who else can?
Even before Mamata came to power, West Bengal had acquired notoriety for what was called ‘scientific rigging’ to keep the Left Front perpetually in power. She apparently learnt her tricks from the Left’s playbook. Rigging acquired a new dimension this year with it being allegedly done to police postal ballots in Kerala where the ruling Left Front is fighting with its back to the wall. Leaders of the Left-leaning Kerala Police Association allegedly seized postal ballots of its members en masse and filled them up themselves. Votes cast by over 25,000 members of the state police are now under a cloud.
In J&K’s Leh, there were allegations of Army officers themselves filling up postal ballots of jawans after asking them about their choice over the phone. In Tamil Nadu, too, where voting happened on April 18, there are reports of postal ballots not reaching many teachers and government officials who were on poll duty, indicating intentional, skewed distribution. Does the EC have what it takes to fix electoral rigging is the big question.