People's Democracy
(Weekly Organ of the Communist Party of India (Marxist)
No. 23
June 10, 2012
|
Vol. XXXVI
No. 23 June 10, 2012 |
Haldia
Shows the Way: ‘Yellow
Card’ to TMC Govt From Our Special Correspondent in Kolkata ELECTIONS to six
municipal bodies in It was particularly
manifest in Left Front’s win
in Haldia in During the
elections to the municipal body,
CPI(M) and Left Front could not conduct peaceful campaign
even for a single
day. Candidates were threatened with dire consequences,
their families
attacked. As Congress had no alliance with TMC, their
candidates and potential
candidates were also attacked. Congress candidates had to
withdraw nomination
after their family members were kidnapped. Left Front
conducted determined,
door-to-door campaign. Even on the day of elections, TMC
hoodlums raided
different areas to threaten people, though they faced
resistance from the
poorer sections. The people of
Haldia rebuffed the TMC and the Left
Front retained the municipality with a 15-11 margin. Out of
these, 14 were won
by CPI(M) and 1 by CPI. In three wards, Left Front
candidates were defeated narrowly,
with margins of 40 to 52 votes only.
Left Front chairman Biman Basu congratulated the
people of Haldia and
said that they have silently rejected the politics of
terror. The dejection of
the TMC with the defeat in
Haldia was very much evident. Immediately after the results
were declared, TMC
activists attacked the car of Tamalika Panda Seth, CPI(M)
leader and outgoing chairperson
of the municipal body. CPI(M) activists were attacked in
different places. CPI(M)
local committee office in Haldia was ransacked. In nine wards of
Durgapur Municipal Corporation,
TMC went into full-scale terrorisation.
CPI(M) booth camps were attacked. In many wards, TMC
activists entered
into booths and took control of EVMs. CPI(M) polling agents
were not allowed to
enter. Booth capturing took place in many wards. TMC
activists started terrorising
the people from the night before. They threatened voters not
to come out of
houses, particularly in areas where Left has a strong
presence. In some wards,
police helped TMC and chased away voters from the queue.
Practically, The Left Front has
demanded repoll in 29 booths
in In Panshkura, the
atmosphere was vitiated. There
also Left Front cadre and even Congress cadre were not
allowed to campaign
freely. TMC threatened to ‘whitewash’ the opposition. TMC
retained the
municipality winning 12 seats while Left Front bagged 5. CPI(M) won 3 seats
while CPI bagged 2. TMC’s
outgoing chairman was defeated by CPI candidate. Congress
failed to get any
seat here. Another setback to
the TMC occurred in Congress’
hand at Coopers Camp when the latter won 11seats out of 12.
Congress maintained
their hold on the notified area body despite all out
aggressive campaign
against them by their partner in the state government. Top
leaders of the both
the parties were engaged in bitter exchange in Coopers Camp
as well as in
Nalhati in Birbhum district. TMC retained this board with
thin margin, winning
8 seats while Left Front won 3, Congress 3 and BJP 1. Here
too TMC’s outgoing
chairman was defeated in two seats despite every attempt to
get him through. In
a ward, Left Front candidate was even arrested the night
before the voting day
and was freed on bail only in the next afternoon that too
after a rebuff from
court. Widespread discontent was reflected in Nalhati. Left Front suffered
defeat in Dhupguri in
Jalpaiguri district. Election process was more or less
peaceful here. But TMC
took no chance and just before the elections they admitted
Kamtapur Peoples’
Party leader Mitali Roy in their fold. KPP is a secessionist
party demanding
separate Kamtapur state for quite long time. TMC won 11 and
Left Front 4 seats
while BJP won in a ward. Biman Basu alleged
that in many areas of these
six municipalities, people were terrorised and normal
democratic atmosphere was
lacking. TMC unleashed violence before and even after the
declaration of
results. This was an ominous sign for civil rights in the
state. Suryakanta Misra,
leader of opposition, termed
the entire results as ‘Yellow card’, a warning to TMC and
its government. “If
they do not mend their ways, people will show them Red card
in the future”,
said Misra. He also alleged that the ruling party has
started fearing people
within a year of assuming power. This is the reason behind
their terror tactics
in civic elections.
HIMACHAL PRADESH The Challenge is to
Preserve and Consolidate the People's
Victory Rakesh Singha HIMACHAL Pradesh, with a population
of 69 lakh, is a mountainous state situated in the The Congress party had monopoly of
power over the corporation since 1986. In successive elections, it was able to
elect the mayor and deputy mayor with comfortable majority, although in the
first election in 1986 the post of mayor went in its favour only by draw of
lots in an evenly contested election. Out of the total 21 elected councilors
then, the Congress had only 6 while the BJP's strength was 8 and independents
were 3. An electoral front formed by the CPI(M) under the name Shimla Nagrik
Morcha won 4 councilor seats, two each belonging to the CPI(M) and the Janta
Dal. Based upon the political line of the Party to maintain equidistance from
the two bourgeois landlord parties, the CPI(M) abstained from voting for the
office of mayor that was being contested by the BJP and the Congress. The
contest ended in a tie with both parties securing 10 votes each. However, the
Congress won the post with the vote of a nominated councilor who otherwise did
not have the right to vote. In the second election for the
municipal corporation of Shimla, held in 1992, the Congress was able to
increase its strength to 17 councillors. In the third elections, held in 1997
it virtually swept the polls by winning 23 councilors, the other two going to
the BJP. The strength of the wards had increased to 25. Such was its grip over
the corporation. In the last elections (fifth
elections), the Congress had 15 councilors, the BJP 8 and the CPI(M) 2. There
was a 61 per cent polling with 69,095 votes having been cast. Both the posts of
mayor and deputy mayor went to the Congress party. SHOCK TO BOTH CONGRESS AND BJP The Municipal Corporation Act was
amended in 2011 bringing changes in the composition of the corporation. The
changes related to 50 per cent of the wards being reserved for women and
holding of direct election for the posts of mayor and deputy mayor. The second
amendment of direct election was incorporated with the intention that the BJP,
which is the ruling party in the state, would have an advantage over other
parties in this form of election. The results of the recent sixth election
to the Shimla Municipal Corporation however turned out to be a landmark election
with the demolition of the Congress monopoly of power for last 26 years and the
shattering of the dream of the BJP to capture the corporation. Although the
people of Shimla have given a fractured mandate for the election of the 25
wards, they have voted decisively in the election for the post of mayor and deputy
mayor. The people have rejected the nominees of both the bourgeois landlord
parties and have elected the CPI(M) candidates by a margin of more than 8000
votes for the office of mayor and a margin of 4778 votes for the post of deputy
mayor. This has come as a shock to both the
BJP and Congress who remain spell bound by the results even till this day. Their
leaders had declared confidently during the election campaign that these polls were
the semi-finals before the assembly elections to be held in October/November of
this year. The BJP has received a bigger shock as its all out efforts to win
the posts came a cropper. The Congress, which was eagerly relying upon the anti-incumbency
of the four and half years rule of the BJP state government, has been reduced
to a poor third as far as the mayor and deputy mayor contest is concerned. The declining image of the Congress
across the country would in normal circumstances have given an opportunity to
the other major bourgeois landlord party, the BJP, to take up the political
space being vacated by the grand old party. But history unfolded when this did
not happen, despite the Left being weak in the state. The political trend of
the Shimla Municipal corporation elections must be a general trend of the
country where people are not ready to accept the neo-liberal, corrupt, divisive
and communal politics of the BJP. It would be a different matter, if BJP is the
lone force on the other side, thus keeping alive the danger of a rightward
shift in the Indian polity. However, the most important message given by the
Shimla Municipal Corporation election is that even if a small but shrill voice
of the Left if raised with determination, it creates confidence amongst the
people to build an alternative political path. PEOPLE FOIL BJP’S DIRTY METHODS The BJP was desperate to capture
power in the Shimla Municipal Corporation. It left no stone unturned to achieve
this aim, as victory would create a political environment in its favour prior
to the assembly elections which are due in November this year. The exercise
began with the preparation of the electoral rolls in a manner that could ensure
victory for the BJP. The previous Municipal Electoral Rolls of 2007 had 1.11 lakh
voters. This time, around 31,000 genuine voters with Election Identity cards
issued on behalf of the Election Commission of India were removed from the
electoral rolls, slashing the total to around 80,000 voters. True to its colours, the BJP infiltrated
into the Election Commission apparatus. Even without serving any notice,
thousands of names were deleted unilaterally from the existing electoral rolls.
This was done on a concocted pretext that their names had existed on the
electoral rolls of some other assembly constituencies also. However, the
commission failed to explain that this was not an electoral roll of any assembly
constituency but an electoral roll for the Municipal Corporation of Shimla.
What the law forbids is that no person can have his name on the electoral rolls
of two different parliament constituencies, two different state assembly constituencies
or two different corporations, committees or panchayats. That is the reason that the Election
Commission is required to prepare different electoral rolls for elections to be
held for the parliament, state assembly, municipal corporation etc. If it was
not so, there would have been common electoral rolls for the parliament
elections to that of the panchayats. It is not a coincidence that of the 31,000
names that were deleted from the voters list, majority of them were Left
sympathisers. A number of premium educational
institutions exist in Shimla, among which include HP University, state medical
college, five different women and boys colleges run by the state government
etc. But it was shocking that names of none of the students residing in these hostels
were included in the voters list. This was intentionally done as majority of
these voters happened to be ‘inconvenient voters’ under the influence of the Left.
However, the CPI(M) on its own initiative was able to enroll voters in the boys
and girls hostels of HP University after taking up with the EC. The other sections which were
targeted to be deleted from the electoral rolls were the people in working
class areas, 'dharas' where the Party had unleashed struggles in the past to
prevent their demolition by the Municipal Corporation. The game plan of the BJP
was so sinister, the final electoral rolls published did not include the
building in which Sanjay Chauhan, the CPI(M) nominee for mayor resided. The names
of people in the entire locality around his building were removed in order to
make it look less blatant. Similarly, the area in which Tikender Panwar, the CPI(M)
nominee for deputy mayor, lived was also targeted for exclusion from the voter
list, including his name and also that of CPI(M) councillor candidate, Meera Sharma. It was only when a protest was
registered with the Election Commission that the names of Sanjay Chauhan and
Tikender Panwar were included in the electoral rolls, paving way for them to
contest. Meera Sharma's name, along with
others, was included on the direction of the state high court. It is this dubious
game plan of the BJP of capturing the municipal corporation by foul means that the
people foiled by their mandate. FREE FLOW OF LIQUOR & MONEY This is only one of the dirty methods
that the BJP adopted to win the elections. On the eve of the polling day, a SMS
was flashed to the mobile phones of all the voters warning them of punishment
if their names existed in rolls of any other assembly constituency apart from
the Shimla municipal corporation. This message was sent by the ADM (Law and
Order) who denied having sent it when the chairman of Election Commission
enquired into this matter. The CPI(M) has lodged a complaint both with the
police and the Election Commission for which investigation is going on.
However, the results of this enquiry are also foreknown. It is unimaginable the amount of
liquor that was distributed by the two bourgeois landlord parties who were competing
amongst each other on this account. It is difficult to state as to who is the
winner as it was virtually a photo finish between the two. The BJP broke all
ethics by supplying truck loads of liquor even in the 108 ambulances. The ministers
Red beacon vehicles were also freely used for making safe delivery of the liquor
on the eve of the polling day. It will shock the readers to learn that
the price of a vote was Rs 1000 in this election, which was distributed by both
the Congress and BJP, reducing the democracy to a farce. The venue of cabinet
meetings had shifted from the secretariat to mohalla's, gullies and
colonies. The frequency of the meeting, from once a month, had been reduced to
a meeting or two per day and on many emergency issues meetings were conducted
on hourly basis. The agenda of these meetings was the acceptance of any kind of
demand in return for a vote in favour of the BJP. The chief minister, cabinet ministers,
ministers of state, parliamentary secretaries, chairmen of corporations,
elected representatives of the panchayats etc from various parts of the state,
including thousands of saffron brigade cadres, were pressed into service to
ensure victory for their party. Not confident of the response to their
campaign, ministers camped at polling booths on the polling day to ensure that
voters who were approached during the campaign and who had been both allured
and threatened did not vacillate in the last minute. It is not the 12 councillors
of the BJP who have won. It is precisely the threats and allurement which did
the trick for the BJP, which now boasts of increasing their tally from 8 to 12
councillors. It was a sad day for the BJP on
counting day. The 50 kg of laddoos, which were ordered even prior to the
declaration of the results, were ultimately distributed by the CPI(M) cadres
who did not allow the halwai to incur
a loss. This was the level of confidence of the BJP for a grand victor. (To be continued)
