HUNDREDS of people turned up for a dharna at Jantar Mantar in Delhi on May 14, in response to the call given by the Left parties to register their protest against the widespread violence, terror and rigging in the Lok Sabha elections in West Bengal. Prakash Karat, general secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), accused the Election Commission of disregarding the repeated complaints made by the Left Front and the CPI(M), demanding timely intervention to save the electoral process in the state from becoming a complete mockery. He lamented the fact that despite the CPI(M) demanding re-poll in many affected booths in the last three phases of the polls in the state, the Election Commission had not ordered re-poll in over thousand booths where polling was rigged. This happened despite the fact that the polling process was vitiated with large scale intimidation of voters, terrorisation and even firing upon voters. Though the media, both print and electronic, in West Bengal had reported these incidents widely, the Election Commission was yet to take cognisance of it. Pointing out that the Election Commission still had time before the counting took place on May 16, he remarked that the people would lose faith in the electoral process if it did not order re-poll in the affected booths and thereby restore the confidence of the people. Recalling the rigged elections to the West Bengal assembly in 1972, the CPI(M) general secretary was categorical that like in 1977 when the authoritarian forces were defeated, West Bengal would repeat history again. Bombs and bullets, Prakash Karat said, would not be able to deter the people. The Left has a history of struggles and sacrifices. Hundreds of its cadres have sacrificed their lives in the cause of the movement. Such attacks would not deter them. Expressing support and solidarity with the people of Bengal in the face of these attacks, Prakash Karat said the Left and democratic people in the entire country stood behind them in the struggle to restore democracy in the state. Terming it as an attack on democracy, CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Sitaram Yechury said that if the Election Commission was unable to perform the constitutional duty which was vested in it, it had no right to remain in office. He said the Election Commission was bestowed with the duty of conducting free and fair elections. Accusing the ECI of its failure in performing this duty, he said its inaction had undermined the faith of the people in such constitutional institutions. Yechury, however, said that it was not the first time that such attack on democracy had taken place in West Bengal. This he warned was a precursor to what the entire country would face tomorrow. He reminded that when attacks on democracy took place in 1972, other democratic forces in the country did not rise to the occasion. It was only after the internal emergency was imposed by Mrs Indira Gandhi in 1975 that the country woke up to its perils and the authoritarian forces were defeated in 1977. But, in the meanwhile, thousands of people had lost their lives in the concerted attacks against the CPI(M) and thousands of others were thrown out of their homes. Accusing the media of partisan portrayal of the events and even going to the extent of insinuating that the Left was being paid back by the TMC with the Left's own tactics, Yechury said if the Left had been indulging in rigging during all these elections, Mamata Banerjee would not have come to power at all in the first place. The Red Flag, he said, would be in the forefront of the struggle to restore democracy and that the people of the country would not accept this mockery of democracy. Speaking on the occasion, veteran CPI leader A B Bardhan reiterated the demand for repoll in all the booths where the rigging had taken place. CPI general secretary S Sudhakar Reddy narrated the various malpractices and incidents of violence indulged in during the elections and said that while genuine voters were prevented from proceeding to the booths to cast their votes, there were large scale complaints of bogus voting. He termed this as an attack on democracy and wondered why the Election Commission was not taking remedial action. Forward Bloc general secretary Debabrata Biswas and RSP Central Committee member Dagar also spoke on the occasion. CPI(M) Polit Bureau members S Ramachandran Pillai, Brinda Karat and A K Padmanabhan also participated in the dharna, along with many members of the CPI(M) Central Committee.