WB Panchayat Polls: Mamata faces charge of onslaught on Opposition

New Delhi/Kolkata: History repeats itself, Accusation of preventing the Opposition from filing of nominations was a 'key-factor' in Bengal politics before the 'Pariborton' in 2011 state Assembly elections, but it remains the same ahead of the Panchayat polls with a query -- whether the scenario is a premonition of another 'change' in the corridor of powers or the state is apathetic towards the Opposition's role in the country's democratic system.

Unabated violence in the run-up to the three-tier Panchayat elections, beginning May 1, no longer remains a one-party affair as BJP, CPI(M) and the Congress activists are mounting joint fight against the ruling Trinamool Congress across several districts, namely Birbhum, South Dinajpur, West Dinajpur and some other districts claiming lives and leaving scores injured.

There was no let-up in the violence, on the consecutive sixth day of filing of nominations on Sunday, as opponents came together to match the might of the Mamata Banerjee-led All India Trinamool Congress (AITC), Monday being the last date of filing of nominations.

Meanwhile, the West Bengal Government has assured more forces, if situation demands, to maintain the law and order across the state to ensure a free and fair Panchayat polls.

Incidentally, five Left parties cried foul and came together in the National Capital on Friday to allege a 'virtual

murder of democracy' in West Bengal, claiming that their candidates were being assaulted and not being allowed to file nominations.

They also demanded that the deadline for filing of nomination- April 9 - be extended.

BJP's Bengal unit also rushed to the Supreme Court, accusing Trinamool workers and State Election Commission (SEC) officials of colluding to prevent its candidates from contesting.

The Apex Court bench said it would pass its judgement on Monday.

Asked to comment on the continuing pre-poll violence in West Bengal, a lecturer of Political Science in JNU, on condition of anonymity, maintained, 'Bengal had witnessed such poll-related violence on many earlier occasions also. But, these, definitely go against the rich, cultural heritage of the state.'

Another professor of Economics in prestigious Presidency University in Kolkata, while refusing to express his credentials, observed ' Violence, in any form is regrettable. It always comes in the way of socio-economic development of a nation.'

Quoting noted author S Wazed Ali and referring to continuing poll violence, the Professor said,'That same tradition is continuing uninterrupted.'

In a lighter vein, an Edens Garden-bound IPL enthusiast, proceeding to watch the match between Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) remarked, 'I am not sure whether I am authorised to make any comment on it. But, my view is that we Bengali generally do not oppose anything, we accept everything-be it charisma of football legend Pele or the mesmerising sitar of maestro Ravi Shankar or the IPL extravaganza. These mindset may be a catalyst behind failure to extend the proper recognition towards the Opposition's role as enshrined in the Constitution.'

According to official statistics, in Gram Panchayat, altogether 48,650 aspirants have filed their nominations so far.

The Trinamool Congress, BJP, CPI(M) and Congress accounted for 43,368, 21,298, 10,385 and 3,385 nominations respectively.

In Panchayat Samiti in all, 9,217 nominations have been filed till date. 7,053 Trinamool candidates have filed their nominations, followed by 3753 (BJP), 2028 CPI(M) and 554 (Congress).

In Zilla Parishad, altogether 825 nominations were filed so far. While the Trinamool aspirants have filed their nominations in 737 seats, BJP, CPI(M) and Congress accounted for 432, 313 and 136 seats respectively.

Election for 42,000 seats spanning across the three-tier Panchayat System are scheduled for May 1, 3 and 5.

Counting will be held on May 8.

Communist Party of India (Marxist) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury told a press conference in New Delhi

on Friday that for the first time, people were being prevented from filing nomination papers and physically

assaulted and cited instances of Basudeb Acharia and Ramachandra Dome, both ex-party MPs, who were violently attacked while electioneering.

He said Opposition candidates were not being allowed to file nomination papers by AITC goons, who were openly using the public address system to threaten rival candidates from even filing nomination papers.

Deriding these tactics, Communist Party of India's national secretary and Rajya Sabha MP D Raja said that local bodies are instruments of grassroots democracy and wanted the Election Commission to ensure free and fair polls.

Claiming that the State Election Commission in West Bengal had become 'virtually defunct', they said that 17 parties of the Left Front had organised a protest dharna at the SEC office in the state.

'We are demanding that those who want to file nominations be allowed to and time extended to enable them,' Mr Yechury told reporters in New Delhi.

The Left parties demanded that those who wanted to file papers for the polls be allowed to do so and the time extended if necessary. Since those attempting to file their candidature were being attacked, they suggested that alternative arrangements could be made for them to file nominations.

'If the ruling party is going to deny democracy at this grassroots level then there is no future for democracy,' the CPI(M) leader regretted.

They said that they had met the SEC to register their protest but did not receive a single word of assurance.

However, Mr Yechury refused to comment when asked whether they would back the Opposition demand for President's Rule, saying that the press would be informed at the time necessary.

The Bharatiya Janata Party West Bengal unit has already filed a petition in the Supreme Court alleging that 'violent Trinamool Congress (TMC) workers' were preventing its candidates from filing nomination papers for the Panchayat elections scheduled to take place in three phases next month.

Nomination process to Panchayat seats in West Bengal opened on April 2 for the election process.

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