On Monday as Bengal went into its fourth round of polling violence rocked the state yet again. Union Minister, Babul Supriyo of the BJP alleged that those who were unlikely to vote the Trinamool Congress (TMC) were not allowed inside the polling booths. In the absence of central forces most people who feared violence were unwilling to even come out and vote. At Asansol were Supriyo is contesting against Moon Moon Sen of the TMC his vehicle which was parked outside the polling station in Barabani was vandalised when a fight erupted between workers of the BJP and the TMC even as Mamata Banerjee the TMC chief fights to retain Bengal and also to assert her leadership on the national stage. But if the kind of violence that overshadows Bengal today on account of the elections, and which seem to have the stamp of the ruling government are any indicator then the country does not seem to be in safe hands. Politics in Bengal has always been marked by violence right from the time when the Left Front ruled Bengal. Mamata Banerjee the present CM was herself a victim of CPM violence. She survived the attacks but has only imbibed the same kind of violence which her cadres are unleashing on TMC rivals particularly the BJP. The ‘do or die’ kind of politics being played out in Bengal today between the TMC and the BJP has normalised violence. Attempts by the Election Commission to transfer senior police officials before polling resulted in their complaining against the Commission. But what we are witnessing in Bengal today is complete lawlessness and it is no secret that the state police are completely compromised. Elections in the state have had to be scheduled for seven phases, to enable the movement of central security forces so people could come out and vote without being intimidated.
Visuals of Babul Supriyo sitting in a car with the rear windows smashed have gone viral even as the rival candidate Moon Moon Sen feigns ignorance of the incident stating that she was busy visiting her constituency to ensure smooth polling. Meanwhile Babul Supriyo was on the road to visit every polling station to ensure that there are no disruptions by TMC supporters. There are eight constituencies voting in Bengal on Monday and they happen to be the most violence-prone belt of the state. The fact that voting for Asansol constituency is scheduled for all seven phases of the national election tells us how violent elections in Bengal are.