President must intervene to stop political violence in Kerala, Bengal
The Left and its influence may be on the wane in the country but its ideology of political violence has vitiated the atmosphere in West Bengal and Kerala, the two states where it has considerable presence. This culture of political violence, which is unacceptable in a democracy, had first subsumed the Congress and its offshoot, the Trinamool Congress, in West Bengal and Kerala.
Apprehensions are that, if steps are not taken to crush it, even the BJP will get sucked into this bloodbath in the process of taking on the CPM in Kerala and the Trinamool in West Bengal.
The Left cultivated widespread political violence in West Bengal, the state which it ruled for about 34 years. The substantially stunted state Congress could not give a tough fight to the former's violent political methodologies. It goes to the credit of chief minister Mamata Banerjee who stood up to the excesses of the CPM cadres. On a few occasions, she herself got injured while many of her supporters were killed. But she did not succumb to the Leftist violence.
However, one of the most important reasons for Mamata's success is the fact that she countered the Left’s violence with violence, earning confidence of the people who were fed up with the Left’s brutality. But now, the Trinamool has clearly overtaken the CPM in terms of political violence. The Left cadres are no longer a worthy match to the political extremism of the Trinamool.
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| When will this political violence stop? |
The situation is a bit different in Kerala, where the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) has always given an eye for and eye and a tooth for a tooth response to the CPM-led Left Democratic Front (LDF). Hence, power has generally rotated alternately between the two equally strong formations. Enter the BJP in the two states now and we witness more violence – a triangular one now in the two states. The BJP has won three seats in West Bengal and one in Kerala. While it is a case of BJP, Trinamool and CPM cadres in West Bengal, it is BJP, Congress and CPM in Kerala.
Bihar may have earned the epithet of “Jungle Raj” but what we witness on a daily basis is the spectre of political jungle raj in Kerala and West Bengal. The difference between the two is that in Bihar, the supporters of Lalu Prasad’s Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) are accused of perpetrating violence on the common man, on the rich businessmen or upper caste people of the state. Besides, there is a general breakdown of the law and order machinery.
However, in Kerala and West Bengal, the cadres and supporters of the CPM, Congress and Trinamool Congress clash among themselves, generally sparing the ordinary man. Now, the BJP cadres, along with the counterparts in their ideological parent, the RSS, are also asserting themselves and trying to get a foothold in the two states.
This sustained and organised violent political culture is taking a toll on the BJP and RSS cadres as they are relatively new to it. Though they generally are the victims, on some occasions they too retaliate, dealing a serious blow to the other party. Slowly and gradually, the BJP/RSS cadres are also getting assimilated to this kind of politics.
Several cases of post-poll violence have been reported involving the CPM, Trinamool and BJP in both the states where results of the Assembly elections were announced on May 19. In West Bengal, actor-turned politician Roopa Ganguly, the state chief of BJP’s women’s wing, was attacked in Diamond Harbour near Kolkata on May 22, allegedly by members of the ruling Trinamool Congress. Roopa, who had unsuccessfully contested from Howrah (North) against Trinamool's Laxmi Ratan Shukla in the recent Assembly elections, suffered head injuries and was admitted to a hospital.
The attack took place while she was returning from Kakdwip in South 24 Parganas, where she had gone to meet some party workers who had sustained injuries after being targeted allegedly by Trinamool workers.
Several other incidents of post-poll political violence have taken place in West Bengal. Trinamool workers allegedly thrashed CPM supporters in Jadavpur area and allegedly torched over a dozen of houses. In Hooghly and Howrah, CPM party offices were attacked. At Bishnupur in Bankura district, it was the other way round where the office of the Trinamool was vandalised allegedly by the CPM cadres.
In Kerala too, a string of post-poll political violence took place, killing a CPM worker in Pinarayi and a BJP supporter in Thrissur. The reign of terror unleashed by the CPM workers on the BJP supporters forced some Union ministers to meet President Pranab Mukherjee and submit a memorandum on the “extreme lawlessness” prevailing in the state. The delegation, which was led by transport minister Nitisn Gadkari, comprised JP Nadda, Rajiv Pratap Rudy and Nirmala Sitharaman. MPs MJ Akbar and Meenakshi Lekhi, and Kerala BJP chief Kummanam Rajasekharan were also part of the delegation.
It is high time the President intervened to put an end to this entrenched culture of political violence in both West Bengal, which is his home state, and Kerala, where the Congress, the party to which he originally belonged, is also one of the sides indulging in extremism. This is necessary to convey the message that political violence cannot be tolerated in a democracy. If not stopped now, it will only escalate in the days to come.