Last round relief from north Bengal Reasons for a peaceful poll

Two first time voters at a polling booth on Denguajhar Tea 
Estate in  Jalpaiguri on Thursday. Picture by Biplab Basak

TT, July 25: Polling in the four north Bengal districts was peaceful overall, a respite from the earlier three phases of elections.

Incidents of bombing were few, no incident of mob violence and few complaints of booth jamming were reported from North Dinajpur, South Dinajpur, Jalpaiguri and Cooch Behar in the final phase of elections.

The demand for repolling, across all four districts, is also only six.

“This phase was relatively peaceful compared to the previous three phases. We are somewhat satisfied,” said Tapas Roy, secretary of the state election commission, this evening.

Several reasons were cited for the peaceful polls, chief among them being the lesser strength of Trinamul, no provocative speeches by politicians and a lower population density compared to the south.

Both the ruling party and its rivals said one of the reasons for the relatively peaceful polls was that Trinamul was yet to establish its presence in a significant manner in the north, where the Congress has several strongholds.

“In north Bengal, the aggression that Trinamul has displayed in south Bengal was missing in the run-up to the panchayat polls,” a Congress leader said.

“In south Bengal, Trinamul leaders such as Anubrata Mondal and Manirul Islam have been baying for the blood of opponents. But in north Bengal, the Trinamul leadership has been harping on development.”

A Trinamul leader said: “We are not yet as strong in north Bengal as we are in the south. So our tone has been different. We have campaigned on the agenda of development and our leaders and ministers never delivered provocative speeches.”

The Congress and the CPM, too, largely exercised restraint.

Also, several political leaders pointed out that because of the Congress’s near absence in the south of the state, most of the contests there have been between the Left and Trinamul.

“Today, in south Bengal, the Congress does not exist,” said a Congress leader. “But in the north, Trinamul cannot bully the party and ride roughshod. It has to recognise the Congress as a party to contend with and so has to exercise restraint.”

Given the Left’s presence too in north Bengal, the contest was not a straight one in most places.

Compared to the south, in north Bengal the population density is much lower thereby reducing the possibility of clashes.

“Even where there have been political clashes today, they have not been as violent as we have witnessed in south Bengal,” a CPM leader said.

An election commission source said the fact that the only 2,000 central forces — compared to the 15,000 to 25,000 deployed in the other phases — were enough to maintain peace was an indicator of the relatively peaceful nature of the polls here.

Of the two deaths, one was reported from Itahar’s Borobilla village.

A 55-year-old CPM supporter, Abdul Aziz, died in a clash after an altercation with Trinamul workers in front of a polling booth this morning.

According to witnesses, while Aziz was standing in queue to vote, some Trinamul workers said his vote had already been cast.

Aziz, along with a few associates, protested this and said it could be a mistake.

An altercation ensued and Aziz and his associates were allegedly attacked by the Trinamul workers with rods and bamboo poles.

A heavily injured Aziz was rushed to the Raiganj district hospital where he died. His five associates have been admitted with injuries.

In Jalpaiguri, an aged ailing rickshaw-puller died after being pestered by alleged Trinamul workers to go out and vote. Mahendra Burman collapsed in the queue and was declared dead in Siliguri district hospital.

Trinamul workers allegedly ransacked an election office of the Congress in Hemtabad block of North Dinajpur.

In the same district, two ballot boxes from two adjoining booths in Dakshin Birnagar were snatched by CPM workers who threw those into a village pond.

In another booth in North Dinajpur, polling stopped as the CPM and Congress alleged that Trinamul has resorted to rigging.

Over 100 CPM workers squatted on the Cooch Behar-Gosanimari road, alleging that they have been stopped by Trinamul-backed goons from voting.