The local body elections in West Bengal, to be held on July 8, have again brought political violence to the fore in the state. Seven people have died since the election notification was issued on June 8, including the ruling Trinamool Congress and opposition parties like the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Congress and the Indian Secular Front. The Bengal government has approached the Supreme Court of India challenging the Calcutta High Court order of June 15, which directed the deployment of central forces in all districts. The state government and SEC do not have enough resources to conduct the huge exercise across the state in a single day. Therefore, the deployment of central forces should have been welcomed, especially when the High Court has directed that the cost of deployment will be borne by the Center and not the state government. Elections will be held on about 73,897 seats in the three-tier local body structure. In 2013, the SEC itself had sought directions to the Supreme Court for the deployment of central forces, which is now facing its opposition. Violence has been common in the state’s politics for decades, and parties in the opposition always demand the deployment of central forces in all elections.
In the 2018 local body elections, there was no deployment of central forces, and more than a third of the seats were won by the ruling Trinamool Congress candidates without a contest. Opposition parties were not allowed to field any candidate on these seats. This time, where the situation is a bit better, the opposition parties have not been able to file nominations in about 50 out of 341 blocks of the state amid reports of intimidation of the candidates. Governor CV Anand Bose visited violence-affected areas in Bhangar and Canning and Raj Bhavan, Kolkata has opened a control room where citizens can register their complaints related to elections. The “Peace Room”, as the governor calls it, will forward these complaints to the state government and the SEC. The governor focused on the deteriorating law and order situation and asked the SEC and the state government to take serious note of the complaints of violence. He has also carefully avoided confrontation with the elected government. West Bengal was one of the first states to have a three-tier panchayat system for the purpose of democratic decentralisation. It is for all stakeholders including political parties to ensure that the exercise of election of Panchayat office bearers does not turn into chaos and anarchy.