WB: People’s Struggle for People’s Panchayat
Samik Lahiri
THE panchayat elections in West Bengal are scheduled to be held on July 8. On June 8, at 5 pm, the newly appointed state election commissioner, Rajiva Sinha, announced the election schedule. Subsequently, on June 9, at 10 am, the official notification was issued, stating that the process of submitting nomination papers would commence from 11 am on the same day. Candidates were given a total of six days to submit their nomination papers, with the deadline set for June 15. The submission of nomination papers for the 73,887 seats took place daily for four hours, spanning a total of 24 hours. Aspiring candidates had the opportunity to submit their nomination papers at 341 Block Development Officer (BDO) offices for the 63,229 Gram Panchayat and 9,730 Panchayat Samiti seats, while 62 Sub-Divisional Officer (SDO) offices accepted nominations for the 928 Zilla Parishad seats.
Rajiva Sinha was appointed as the West Bengal state election commissioner on June 7. However, within 24 hours of assuming office, he made the unexpected announcement regarding the three-tier panchayat elections. This hasty decision raises questions as to why the urgency in announcing the elections. Typically, the Election Commission allocates 4-5 days after the announcement of the election day/schedule to adequately prepare itself and allow interested political parties and candidates ample time to submit their nominations. The Election Commission generally holds meetings with all recognised political parties prior to announcing the elections, a practice followed not only in our state but throughout the country. Surprisingly, such consultations were not carried out on this occasion.
6.7 MINUTES PER NOMINATION!
The people of the state have witnessed the consequences of the state election commission's hurried actions. A crucial concern arose regarding the feasibility of completing the task of collecting nomination papers for 73,887 seats within a total of 24 hours, with a daily duration of 4 hours at the designated 402 centres. Assuming an average of 10 candidates per constituency, only 24 hours, or 1,440 minutes, were allocated to receive a staggering 7,38,870 nomination papers. Even if we exclude the Zilla Parishad seats, the 341 block offices were assigned to handle at least 7,29,590 nomination papers for the remaining 72,959 seats. This implies that approximately 0.67 minutes or 40.2 seconds were allotted for the submission of a single nomination paper based on the calculation (1440/729590 = 0.0019 x 341). If nominations were being submitted concurrently at 10 tables, each nomination paper would have been granted only 6.7 minutes of time.
The nomination paper consisted of three pages, accompanied by an additional three-page declaration paper. The nomination paper required the completion of 41 blanks, while the declaration paper had 62 blanks, which were subject to verification by the returning officer or their assistants. Moreover, candidates were required to submit a voter list, Aadhaar card, voter identity card, and nationality certificate, all of which needed to be scrutinised by the returning officer or their assistants. Additionally, if a candidate belonged to a recognised political party, two additional forms had to be submitted, which also needed to be reviewed. Given these extensive requirements, our question to Election Commissioner Rajiva Sinha is whether it was humanly possible to accomplish all these tasks within a mere 6.7 minutes per nomination paper?
64,559 NOMINATIONS IN 8 HOURS!
As a result, the consequences became apparent. On June 9, due to inadequate preparations, nomination papers were unable to be submitted at 341 BDO and 62 SDO offices. Even on June 10, as the election-related documents had not arrived, the nomination papers were not submitted in many block offices. According to data provided by the Election Commission, only 44,000 nomination papers were submitted in the first three days, on June 9, 10, and 12. By June 13, the number of submitted nomination papers had reached 94,000. On June 14, this number reached 1,62,655. However, with only four hours remaining, there were still at least 5,50,000 nomination papers that remained to be submitted. During the last two days, June 14-15, numerous block offices were forcefully occupied by miscreants of the ruling Trinamool party, who were armed with bombs and pistols. Until June 13, the Trinamool party had managed to file only 9,328 nominations, but miraculously, this number skyrocketed to 73,887 on June 15. To witness just 9,328 nominations within the first 12 hours, followed by an astounding 64,559 nominations in the last eight hours, can only be described as magic or unbelievably fantastic feat.
The role assumed by the Election Commission had a deterrent effect on people's participation in the electoral process. Moreover, the ruling Trinamool party made concerted efforts to prevent candidates from opposition parties from filing their nomination papers. The Trinamool party gathered under its wing anti-social elements, armed with swords, staves, bombs, pistols, and various other weapons. Trinamool appeared not at all hesitant to have people killed in their bid to suppress the opposition. The police, under the orders of the police minister and the chief minister, remained passive observers. In other areas, the police resorted to threats to deter opposition candidates, and when that failed, they resorted to arresting them by implicating them in false cases. Mamata Banerjee's insatiable thirst for power and her overwhelming sense of insecurity have left Bengal stained with blood.
What is Mamata Banerjee so fearful of? The truth is that she is well aware that her party would face a strong defeat if the people of this state were given the opportunity to vote freely and independently. Even the BJP, led by Modi-Shah, which appears to have a secretive understanding with the Trinamool, shares the same concern. It has now become evident to the public that the BJP government, under Modi-Shah's leadership, is shielding corrupt Trinamool leaders. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) have been involved in covering up the Sarada scam, other chit fund cases, and the Narada bribery cases that originated nine years ago. This covert understanding explains why the chief minister's niece-in-law, who was accused of smuggling illegal gold, was released by authorities controlled by the central government, including the Customs Department, CISF jawans, and the Airports Authority. Despite the chief minister's nephew being implicated in various cases involving coal, sand, gold, and cow smuggling, the CBI and ED have been unable or unwilling to take any effective action against him, except for occasionally summoning him.
During the nomination filing process, there were numerous instances where candidates from the Left and other opposition parties were forcibly prevented from submitting their nominations. Surprisingly, BJP candidates faced no obstacles in filing their nominations. The corporate-sponsored media, in an attempt to conceal this reality, selectively covered only a few incidents of clashes between the BJP and Trinamool parties. It is worth noting that a significant number of individuals involved in corrupt practices and exploitation, who were denied renomination by the Trinamool Congress (TMC), have switched sides to the BJP and successfully filed their nominations.
The consequences of this secret understanding are slowly becoming apparent to the public. The people of Bengal now understand that the BJP is the real protector of the Trinamool party. In return for shielding the chief minister and her family members, despite their involvement in numerous corruption scandals, the Trinamool has assisted the BJP in forming governments by fielding its candidates in states like Goa, Meghalaya, Manipur, Tripura, and others. Additionally, the Trinamool has actively supported the passage of arbitrary and anti-people laws introduced by the BJP in parliament.
During the 34-year rule of the Left Front government, incidents of communal violence were virtually nonexistent in the state. RSS-BJP had no significant presence during that time. However, in the last 12 years, the Trinamool's actions have facilitated the rapid growth of thousands of RSS branches and schools in West Bengal. The Trinamool's support to the BJP has resulted in the BJP winning 19 Members of Parliament and 77 Members of Legislative Assembly from the state. In stark contrast, during the entire 34-year tenure of the Left Front government, the BJP struggled to even secure 10 councillors or panchayat members. This is why the late Comrade Jyoti Basu used to assert that Mamata Banerjee's greatest crime was accommodating the communal BJP-RSS in the state.
Among the numerous offences committed by the Trinamool over the past 12 years, they have disenfranchised the common people in the state, launched autocratic attacks on the opposition, and dismantled autonomous bodies such as panchayat municipalities.
LEFT FRONT GOVT AND RURAL BENGAL
During the governance of the Left Front, significant strides were made in the development of the panchayat system, driven by the participation of rural communities. The Panchayat Act implemented by the Left Front in 1978 served as a model for the entire country. Recognising its success, then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi took the initiative in the 1980s to establish a similar panchayat system nationwide based on the Left Front's model. This led to the introduction of the 73rd and 74th Amendments to the Constitution, which created a new Panchayat Act applicable to the entire country.
Under the Left Front government, rural Bengal underwent a transformative change as a result of the new Panchayat Act and land reforms that empowered the poor working class. Through these reforms, the Left Front government distributed land to landless people, effectively transferring 11 lakh acres of land to cultivators without land. This initiative brought about significant economic changes in rural Bengal, benefiting the local economy and improving the lives of the rural population.
Consequently, the successful implementation of these measures led to the creation of a consumer goods market worth Rs 22,000 crore in rural Bengal alone. The industrialisation initiatives that began in the late 1980s propelled West Bengal to the forefront of industrial investment by 2010. The economic prosperity experienced in rural Bengal also had a positive impact on the urban youth. Numerous new factories, businesses, industrial estates, and IT hubs were established across the state. In 1977, a staggering 66 per cent of the population lived below the poverty line. However, by the year 2000, this figure had significantly dropped to 21 per cent. Similarly, the illiteracy rate, which stood at over 60 per cent before the advent of the Left Front government, declined to 23 per cent by 2000. Prior to 1977, West Bengal relied on other states for food supplies, but under the Left Front government, not only did the state achieve self-sufficiency in food production, but also began exporting surplus rice and vegetables to other states.
The Left Front government made remarkable efforts to increase the income of the poor landless people through land reforms, hand over power to the poor working people through panchayats, and simultaneously focused on building a multitude of schools and colleges to ensure education for all. The true empowerment of the rural poor was achieved through the augmentation of their rights, improvement in income levels, and the expansion of educational opportunities. These comprehensive measures brought about a significant transformation in rural Bengal under the Left Front government.
RURAL BENGAL AND TRINAMOOL
During the past 12 years of Trinamool rule, the rural economy has been taken over by brokers and middlemen, causing detrimental effects. Farmers are now compelled to sell their crops at significantly low prices to these intermediaries. Consequently, farmers are being deprived of fair compensation for their produce, while these brokers, with the support of the Trinamool, are amassing enormous profits by selling rice and vegetables at inflated prices in the market. The Trinamool has systematically dismantled the agro-fisheries and other cooperatives that were established during the Left Front period. Instead of fostering these cooperative structures, the economy of rural Bengal is now dominated by middlemen. Consequently, farmers are grappling with dire circumstances, and consumers are burdened with skyrocketing price hikes. This dual impact has created immense hardships for both farmers and buyers in the agricultural sector.
Many primary, upper primary, middle, and higher secondary schools, which were established during the Left Front era, are currently grappling with severe challenges due to an insufficient number of teachers. Trinamool's primary objective appears to be the dismantling of the government education system, paving the way for private entities to profit from education. Private kindergartens to universities are flourishing at an alarming rate. The teacher recruitment scandal in Bengal has even surpassed the infamy of the "Vyapam scandal" under the BJP-led government in Madhya Pradesh. Several high-ranking officials from the education department, including the education minister himself, are now behind bars as a consequence of their involvement in this crime.
Industries that were established during the Left Front government have gradually relocated out of the state over the past 12 years, driven by their dissatisfaction with the oppressive tactics and extortion practiced by the Trinamool. Additionally, no new industries have been established in the state during the Trinamool's tenure. The MNREGA scheme, or the 100 days job guarantee scheme, is the outcome of the longstanding struggle by the Left. However, for nearly the past two years, not a single person in the state has been able to secure employment under this scheme, due to misappropriation and embezzlement of funds orchestrated by Trinamool-backed headmen. Consequently, over one crore young men and women from rural Bengal have been compelled to migrate to other states in search of employment opportunities. The recent tragic accident involving the Coromandel Express in Balasore, Odisha, claimed the lives of many individuals who were traveling to other states in search of work.
The panchayats, which used to be governed with the active participation of the people through gram sansads/gram sabhas (village councils) during the Left Front era, have now fallen under the control of opportunistic, greedy, and corrupt plunderers. Trinamool groups have embezzled funds intended for various schemes such as the 100 days work scheme, housing schemes for the construction of houses for the poor, and projects for the renovation of roads, canals, and ponds. They have even resorted to taking a share from the allowances meant for vulnerable elderly individuals, including the old age and widow allowances. The poor farmers who obtained land rights through patta-barga (transfer of ownership or permanent cultivation) during the Left Front period are now being victimised by land mafias backed by Trinamool, who are unlawfully seizing and looting their land. Trinamool leaders are involved in the illegal sale of government land, canals, and ponds. The ill-gotten gains act as a vital force for Trinamool, just as oxygen is essential for the survival of living beings.
During the Left Front government's tenure, the Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, Jain, Sikh communities, as well as atheists, lived in harmony and peace in the villages of Bengal. However, during the 12-year rule of Trinamool, more than a hundred communal riots have occurred. Trinamool Congress has seemingly taken a page out of RSS-BJP's playbook, adopting divisive tactics that aim to sow hatred and division among people based on caste, religion, and language in Bengal. In fact, the BJP, in an attempt to divert attention from issues such as soaring prices, increasing unemployment, a struggling economy, and the privatisation of key sectors like railways, banks, insurance, mining, and electricity, follows a strategy of dividing the poor and common people based on caste, religion, and language. Trinamool is following a similar path in Bengal, employing divisive policies to conceal their own wrongdoings.
This is why the people of Bengal are unitedly fighting against the combined force of plunderers and rioters, namely BJP and Trinamool. On one hand, BJP has attempted to obstruct the panchayat elections upon sensing the people's sentiments. On the other hand, Trinamool is striving to gain uncontested control over the panchayat assets by preventing the opposition from submitting their nomination papers and undermining fundamental democratic procedures. The only way to safeguard Bengal from these rioters and looters is through the united struggle of the people. Therefore, the key slogan of our struggle is to free panchayats of rioters and looters and establish people's panchayats.
