From ‘Jai Shri Ram’ chants to the question over the existence of Hindus in the state, from the Manipur ethnic violence to the wrestlers’ protest in Delhi, from the recent incident of a BJP leader urinating on a tribal youth in Madhya Pradesh to the Centre’s decision to deny funds to the state and the ever-present corruption: all issues — be it local, regional or central — have found their way into the campaigns run by political parties ahead of the West Bengal panchayat elections. This is indeed a high-stakes poll.

In the run-up to the elections, at least 12 people have been killed in incidents of violence and arson across districts while many have been left injured. A total of 822 companies of central forces will be deployed on polling day – July 8 – and close to 350 companies have already arrived and started their flag marches. Out of 63,229 gram panchayat seats, over 6,000 have already been won uncontested by the TMC – this, in a nutshell, is what the situation looks like with 48 hours left for polling day.

Even as Maharashtra is witnessing a massive political upheaval, there is much anticipation about the panchayat polls as they are taking place before the next big test – the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. This is the first-of-its-kind panchayat election in the state, for which even Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee campaigned in south and north Bengal and held rallies until she got injured after her chopper had to make an emergency landing while flying back from a poll meeting last week.

Abhishek Banerjee – TMC’s national general secretary, MP and the chief minister’s “heir apparent” – has travelled across districts to campaign for the rural body elections. “A majority of Bengal’s population live in rural areas. India lives in rural areas as Mahatma Gandhi once pointed out. Despite migration to cities, villages are the places where democracy is founded. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee assigns utmost importance to the panchayat system. That is why she campaigned and all senior ministers, including me and senior leaders of the party, are campaigning for the panchayat elections,” said state panchayat and rural development minister Pradip Majumdar.

Mamata, while addressing public meetings, has claimed that the pre-poll process was largely “peaceful” barring “hooliganism by the opposition” in some pockets. Incidents of clashes have, however, been reported from certain “sensitive” pockets, including South 24 Parganas and North 24 Parganas, Murshidabad and Cooch Behar districts since the beginning of the filing of nominations.

What is at stake, after all?

A senior cabinet minister, who did not want to be named, said, “The general elections in 2024 will be influenced by the results of the panchayat polls. This is a high-stakes election not only for us, but for the opposition, primarily the BJP.”

“We have nothing to lose as Didi is a superpower in Bengal. We will sweep, but the BJP has seats to lose. They got 18 seats in 2019 because of some mistakes by our party leaders. We failed to identify the resentment among voters. But history will not repeat itself this time,” he added.

West Bengal has 3,317 gram panchayats, 341 panchayat samitis and 20 zilla parishads. This is the structure of the three-tier rural administration in the state. There are at least 91 cash and other benefit schemes – 74 state and 17 central schemes – which are run and managed by the local panchayats.

The panchayat poll is not just a litmus test for the general elections, but a way to control funds, schemes and mobilisation of people at the grassroots where 80 percent of the state’s voters live.

Ram, wrestlers, Manipur, MP’s urinating man: all feature in panchayat campaign

The leaders of the ruling TMC and the opposition BJP are not only talking about local issues but also bringing forth issues in different states, going as far as Madhya Pradesh, where a BJP leader urinated on a tribal man in Madhya Pradesh, and the Manipur conflict.

“Just as the protesting wrestlers were forced to drown their medals in the Ganga, people will be forced to drown their future if the BJP comes to power again. The BJP should be taught a lesson and rejected at all costs. Yesterday, in Madhya Pradesh, we saw a BJP leader urinating on a tribal man’s face. This is the reality of the BJP, who are against our tribal community. Yet, you won’t see any NHRC (National Human Rights Commission of India) or other human rights team being rushed to Madhya Pradesh. In two years, 151 central teams have visited our state,” said Abhishek, addressing a rally in East Burdwan.

During their campaign, TMC leaders and state ministers also stressed on how the Narendra Modi government had denied central funds to Bengal. They have also accused BJP MPs of “advising” the Centre to stop giving central funds to the state.

“All those BJP leaders complicit in withholding your funds, this election is a referendum for their brand of politics. In the coming days, we will go to Delhi and snatch what is rightfully ours. The people need to ensure that the Trinamool Congress wins the elections, so that we can remind these ‘bohiragotos’ that their discriminatory politics are not welcome in Bengal,” Abhishek added.

Majumdar said: “During our campaign, we are asking people what results they have seen after sending 18 BJP MPs to the Lok Sabha? Rather, they seem to be working against the interest of the people. The BJP MPs petitioned before the central government, requesting them to stop the release of central funds. Over Rs 12,000 crore central funds are pending.”

The BJP leaders, including leader of the opposition Suvendu Adhikari, are using the slogan ‘Jai Shri Ram’ while raising the issue of corruption at the panchayat level.

“We have moved court and got central forces here. We have to save Bengal. If pishi-bhaipo (chief minister and her nephew) stay for some more years, will Hindus survive in this state? Have you forgotten what we saw a few months ago during Ram Navami?” asked Adhikari during his campaign in East Midnapore district on Wednesday.

First Published:Jul 6, 2023 12:06 PM IST