National

Just Pass The Wine, Comrades

The Left made a law that grossly undermined Bengal바카라™s state election commission. As Trinamool unleashes pre-poll violence, an old tool comes in handy.

Just Pass The Wine, Comrades
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During his long stint as Member of Parliament, CPI(M) lea­der Basudeb Acharya was known as a fiery speaker who relentlessly pursued the cause of the people of his constituency바카라”the backward district of Bankura in West Bengal바카라”demanding, and often extracting, benefits for the tribal people of that reg­­ion from the Centre. Away from the cut-and-thrust of national politics, Acharya is soft-spoken and polite, his words touched by a disarming candour. During an interview to Outlook bef­ore the 2011 assembly polls, when his party was in power, he replied to a question about 바카라˜rigging바카라™바카라”the control of polling booths by musclemen, usually from the incumbent party, of which his own 34-year-long government had often been accused. He stated that he would rather lose than stay in power by dishonest means. He lost to the Trinamool Congress candidate that year.

Seven years later, the 75-year-old veteran is languishing in a hospital bed. He was attacked by thugs associated allegedly with the Trinamool. They were trying to prevent him from entering the district magistrate바카라™s office to help his comrades file nomination papers for the upcoming panchayat elections. It came in the middle of a shrill, rising tide of protests by the BJP and the Left against TMC violence over the polls. The road to 바카라˜capturing boo­ths바카라™ starts with the nomination process itself.

It has been an open secret that in Bengal, elections have been far from 바카라˜free and fair바카라™. Political analyst Biswanath Cha­­kraborty observers, 바카라œIn West Bengal, once a political party gains power, there are systems in place바카라”legal and not-so-legal바카라”which keeps them ensconced.바카라

Not only did 바카라˜scie­n­tific rigging바카라™바카라”an elaborate process, spa­nning several stages, which ensured real voters did not exercise their franchise바카라”emerge during Left Front바카라™s rule, but the government, which dominated the state legislature, also brought in legislation that helped 바카라˜legalise바카라™ its brutal area domination.

According to experts, the West Bengal State Election Commission Act of 1994 red­­uced the state elections (local body polls, including the three-tier panchayat polls) monitoring body to a toothless 바카라˜instruction follower바카라™ of the government. Chakraborty explains, 바카라œNowhere else in India is the state election commission  (SEC) reduced to a mere 바카라˜puppet바카라™ in the hands of the state government.바카라 Even if such laws exist in other states, say experts, nowhere is it as abused as in West Bengal.

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Photograph by PTI

The 1994 Act bestows the state with the power to decide on/accept or reject polling dates of local body elections. Furthermore, the very reason for the existence of and the appointment of the SEC is stated, according to the law, to be a discretion of the state government. Section 3.1  states, 바카라œWith effect from such date as the state government may by notification, appoint, there shall be a commision, to be called the West Bengal State Election Commission.바카라 Not surprisingly, officials of such a body would owe their allegiance to the state government.

The controversial legislation, says Cha­­kraborty, was enacted when the Left was in its 17th year in office. 바카라œUninterrupted power made it feel invincible,바카라 he says. 바카라œIt felt it didn바카라™t really need to 바카라˜fight바카라™ for power any longer. Practically, every institution belonged to them바카라”whether it was the bur­eaucracy or the police. It was not difficult for them to 바카라˜manage바카라™ the polling process. Muscle power on the ground came from criminals바카라”read 바카라˜cadres바카라™바카라”who were given protection from any punitive action. The inevitable system of quid pro quo this spawned hugely undermined the maintenance of law and order in Bengal, but ens­ured that the status quo remained.바카라 Chakraborty  adds, 바카라œIt vests so much power in the state government that local elections, instead of being controlled by a neutral authority, become a prerogative of state mac­­­­hinery. This is obviously dangerous for the democratic process바카라.

Section 3 of the Act further states, 바카라œSubject to the direction and control of the State Election Commissioner, the district panchayat election officer shall appoint such number of officers of the state government to be the assitant pan­chayat electoral registration officer and assistant panchayat returning offi­cer.바카라 In other words, key personnel of the state election commission, who are supposed to be objective monitors, are expected to owe their allegiance to the state government, or one of the leading contestants.

Section 8 states, 바카라œThe State Government shall, in consultation with the Comm­ission...fix the date or dates on which, the hours during which, the poll will be taken.바카라

The law, framed and used by the Left during their rule, is now being used by the Trinamool to their advantage. Currently, opposition parties have demanded that Central forces be sent to man the booths during the Panchayat polls. The BJP has even filed a petition in the Supreme Court to that effect. Predictably, the state government has rejected the idea, as they are well within their right to do so vis-a-vis local body elections. Assembly and Lok Sabha polls, where the  Election Commission of India has the final say on matters of security, are a different matter.

The State Election Commission, pow­erless to go against the state governm­ent,  has been dithering. According to some opposition leaders, however, senior SEC officials have privately expressed his desire to endorse the support for Central forces to contain and pre-empt poll-rel­ated violence, though his stance has not been unequivocal.

In the meantime, parts of West Bengal바카라”especially Bankura, Birbhum, Purulia, Din­ajpur, Midnapur, Murshidabad and South 24 Parganas districts바카라”have rep­­orted largescale violence related to the filing of nominations. Bengal바카라™s tradi­tional  poll violence is out in the open, with assailants brazenly brandishing FIR­earms, knives and bombs, and unabashedly roughing up opponents for no other 바카라˜crime바카라™ than that they had gone to file their nominations. In case after case, opposition politicians were dragged out of offices of district administrators and mercilessly slapped, kicked, punched, even stabbed. The police watched as mute spectators.

The bloodshed is just an indication that 바카라˜scientific rigging바카라™ in West Bengal has mutated since its days during the Left. 바카라˜Rigging바카라™ has evolved from being 바카라˜booth capturing바카라™ or 바카라˜booth-jamming바카라™, when rul­ing party goons intimidated polling off­­icers and prevented voters from reg­istering their own votes. It has passed through the stage when cadres went from door to door in villages, warning voters that they would be severely punished if they dared to go out to vote. Those who dared still were beaten up, even killed. It has even transcended the level when rival candidates were forced to withdraw their candidatures or face humiliation, even murder. Now, in add­ition to all that, 바카라˜action바카라™ is taken  in the nascent stage its­elf, before nominations could be filed, so that hundreds of seats go uncontested. However, it has to be mentioned that in Bengal바카라™s panchayat elections, the category of 바카라˜unopposed candidates바카라™ have been a rising trend. In 2008, 5.57 per cent of can­didates won uncontested; in 2013, the number rose to 10.66 per cent. Under the Trinamool바카라™s relentless pressure, the numbers might reach a new high this year. The TMC바카라™s exertions bore immediate fruit too. As per reports, their candidates were slated to be 바카라˜elected unopposed바카라™ from 41 out of 42 seats in the Birbhum Zilla Parishad, and 14 of 19 panchayat samitis in the district. The same was the case across swathes of Murshidabad district.

In the meantime, to stand up to the menace, the state바카라™s opposit­ion, namely BJP, the Left and the Congress, have decided to unite, not as poll partners, but to form groups for the collection and submission of nomination forms. Even this has faced obstacles, with reports that the state police has stopped delegations of opposition politicians on some pretext or other and delayed the filing of nominations till it was too late. Though the police have denied such charges, all three parties have cried foul, pointing out that many of their candidates couldn바카라™t submit nomination forms. They have filed petitions in cou­rts for intervention and asked for an extension of the deadline. At first, their request was granted. On April 9, the state EC extended the final date for filing nominations by one day, to April 10. Then, on April 10 itself, they reversed their decision and stuck to the original April 9 deadline after a petition from the TMC. For the opposition, it was yet another sign of the SEC바카라™s complete lack of autonomy.

Opposition parties have also urged the state election commissioner to follow the precedent set by former election commissioner Mira Pandey, who had gone to court over the Trinamool government바카라™s refusal to allow central forces to man booths dur­ing the 2013 panchayat elections.

바카라œIt is completely undemocratic that TMC is talking about an 바카라˜opposition-free바카라™ election,바카라 says a Left leader, referring to a comment by a Trinamool leader. 바카라œThey have no res­­­­­­­pect for the neutrality of the state EC.바카라 Countering the charges, TMC points out that the 바카라œcomplaints about the state commission바카라™s role should be reviewed from the perspective of the law that was formulated during the CPI(M) rule.바카라 TMC leader Kalyan Banerjee says, 바카라œThe BJP has already filed many nominations, which shows the charges are completely baseless.바카라

Analysts observe how the CPI(M)바카라™s own child, the State Election Commission Act, 1994, has returned to bite it. Among its victims are true believers in 바카라œfree and fair바카라 polls, like CPI(M)바카라™s Basudeb Acharya.

By Dola Mitra in Calcutta

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