Siliguri’s poll message: Keep peace or lose votes

Rakhi Chakrabarty,TNN, Apr 25, 2015, KOLKATA: It's a day like any other in Siliguri on the eve of crucial civic polls to be held Saturday. Screaming banners, posters, political-rival-bashing graffiti are barely there. Residents say this is Siliguri's way of sending a strong message to the political parties that the mandate is for peace; that the party which disrupts peace on poll day will lose people's support. 

The administration, too, is leaving nothing to chance. For the past one week, Siliguri Police Commissioner Manoj Verma has been doing the rounds in each of the 47 wards till late in the night. 

Hotels, lodges and other places suspected to harbor criminals are being searched for the past week following allegations of outsiders carted in to create trouble on poll day. 

Three companies of Border Security Force arrived at the last moment --- the evening before polls --- in Siliguri. Despite lack of time to familiarize the central forces with the area, they would be a force multiplier in ensuring free polls, believed local police officers. 

About 300 personnel of the central forces would be deployed for area domination and patrolling across 404 booths. 

Amid reports of violence across Bengal a day before elections to 91 civic bodies, Siliguri, about 560km from Kolkata, seems to have struck a different note. 

"We have seen the kind of violence on day of civic polls in Kolkata. I don't you will find such lawlessness in Siliguri on poll day. We expect political parties to behave sensibly," said Gurcharan Singh, a businessman. The Singhs have been living in Siliguri for five generations and are proud that Siliguri has always been "better than Punjab". 

Singh's words are echoed by Raju Saha, a hawker, and Arup Bhadra, a teacher, belonging to vastly different socio-economic strata. Saha and Bhadra's fathers had come from across the border as refugees after Partition in 1947. 

"There is stiff contest between the Trinamool and the CPM. There will simmering tension, but we hope there'll be no violence," said Bhadra. 

Asok Bhattacharya, former Left Front minister contesting the Siliguri civic polls said it would be "suicidal" if the Trinamool resorted to violence on poll day. 

Despite allegations that the Trinamool Congress has carted goons from as far as Kolkata and South 24-Parganas to disrupt the poll process in Siliguri, the two main political players hoped for a peaceful Saturday. 

Trinamool minister Goutam Deb called allegations about bringing in "outsiders" for Siliguri polls as "baseless and false". "Those are levelling such allegations must come out with details about names of the goons, where they are being kept etc. Till date, they haven't done that. We don't expect violence on poll day. We will not allow anybody to unleash violence," said Deb. 

Trinamool's main political opponent, the CPM, too, is determined to ensure that voters come out in large numbers and vote fearlessly. 

Asok Bhattacharya sounded confident. "Anybody who creates trouble in Siliguri will not be able to go back safely. We hope the police will act impartially in case of trouble," said Bhattacharya. 

Poll campaign was mostly peaceful in Siliguri. Strong-arm tactics by the ruling Trinamool did not work, said Bhattacharya. "Peaceful poll campaign proves we won the first round of the poll process. Wherever we were attacked, we retaliated and resisted in good measure. Unlike in other parts of Bengal, our opponents (Trinamool) have had to face aggressive comrades in Siliguri who believe we can defeat the Trinamool. We have been able to work the anti-Trinamool atmosphere to our advantage," he said. 

Amid the high-voltage contest between the Trinamool and the Left, the BJP seems to have paled into insignificance. Though a smattering of BJP flags are visible alongsidetheir political rivals, voters seem to have already decided on the main contestants for the close fight for Siliguri: it's either the Trinamool or the Left.