West Bengal is slipping steadily into political instability. This admission comes from none other than the state’s chief minister and the Speaker of the state Assembly.
A joint operation by the Central and state police continued against the Naxalites in Lalgarh, with no tangible results. Life in Darjeeling Hills remained paralysed for the fourth consecutive day as the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha continued with its indefinite Bandh to press their demand for a separate Gorkhaland state. In south Bengal, internecine clashes between the CPI(M) and its opposition TMC and the Congress continued.
A nine member delegation of Congress Legislative Party was attacked and beaten up in broad day light allegedly by CPI(M) supporters in a Burdwan village. Today, angry Congress supporters damaged and set on fire a number of state transport buses. The Congress gave a call to observe state wide Bandh tomorrow to protest the attack on their MLAs. In the state assembly all political parties, including the CPIM MLAs condemned the attack.
Speaker Hasim Abdul Halim, while condemning yesterday’s incident said that taking political revenge in a calculated manner had become the culture of the day. He noted with concern that a serious situation had developed in the state, where the police was not playing any active role to bring the situation under control. Referring to the developments in Lalgarh, the Speaker directed his question to the chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and said, “Why are the police unable to arrest Chhatradhar Mahato? He seems to be freely moving in and around Lalgarh, addressing mass and media persons there.”
Indicating to the changed political equation which had emerged after the general elections, Halim observed that some political parties were trying to make the most of this transition period, they were even encouraging the terrorists. Their temporary gain would be offset by the long term loss to the state, he warned.
The gravity of the prevailing situation was not missed by the chief minister. He readily agreed with the Speaker that the state had entered into a dark period where political conflicts were being resolved by violent means alone. He appealed to the Opposition to have discussions with the government and build consensus to put a stop to that ongoing violence. But the Opposition was in no mood to listen to this. They walked out of the Assembly house before the chief minister could have his say.
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After yesterday’s attack on the Congress legislators, the situation in Burdwan’s villages is still tense today. The CPI(M) supporters are determined to resist any sort of attempt to take over their area by the Opposition TMC-Congress combine. After the general elections, the rejuvenated TMC-Congress started an aggressive campaign against the CPI(M) functionaries in the rural areas.
Violent clashes took place in several districts. In the process, a large number of people were killed from both sides. Now, the CPI(M) at the district level, has decided to take on the Opposition frontally according to party sources. So, in the coming days, more clashes should be expected in the districts of Purulia, Burdwan, Bankura and West Midnapur where the CPI(M) has a sizeable organisation.
The chief minister admitted in the Assembly that the police had failed to offer protection to the legislators, and added that the police had no inkling of the impending attack on them.
The chief minister denied the allegation levelled by Congress against his colleague and industry minister Nirupam Sen and said that he was not involved in that incident. Expressing concern, the chief minister said that after the general elections there had been a growing trend of attacking and obstructing the legislators in different parts of the state. Last month, Union minister Sisir Adhikari had been obstructed near Lalgarh by CPI(M) supporters, and Partha Chatterjee, the Opposition leader in the Assembly, was obstructed from entering in the same Burdwan village by the CPI(M) supporters.
The CPI(M) legislators were also not spared from public wrath. A number of legislators were obstructed or manhandled by villagers when they went to visit some of the Aila-hit villages. Surprisingly, in all these incidents the state police remained a mute spectator. Now, taking advantage of the paralysis crept into the administration, the Opposition is taking control of the situation.
In rural Bengal, political violence is continuing in cyclical order. Last month, Falguni Mukherjee, a member of the CPI(M) Burdwan district committee was murdered.
After that the Congress supporters of that area were attacked and their houses were destroyed by angry CPI(M) supporters. Yesterday, when the Congress legislators tried to enter the village with food and relief materials for their supporters, they were first obstructed from entering the village then attacked.
hough the Congress legislators had to beat a hasty retreat, the leaders in Delhi swung into action. Yesterday, Mamata Banerjee and senior Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee held a lengthy consultation with the Union home minister P Chidambaram on the situation in West Bengal. Today, Congress leader Subrata Mukherjee appealed to the minor partners of the Left Front to come out in protest against the CPI(M)’s ‘marauder cadre force’ and support tomorrow’s Bandh.