As continuing civil-war like violence between Trinamool Congress workers and those of the other Opposition parties consumed three lives besides injuring dozens of others in a single day the Calcutta High Court on Thursday ordered deployment of central forces ahead of the forthcoming panchayat elections with immediate effect.
The order passed by the Division bench of Chief Justice S Sivagnanam tends to come as a major embarrassment for the Mamata Banerjee Government and the State Election Commission (SEC) which had earlier been asked by the same court to deploy "forthwith" central forces in only seven politically-sensitive districts.
Taking a strong view of the SEC’s defiance of the court order and Thursday’s violence that saw alleged TMC goons shooting dead a CPI(M) activist at Chopra in North Dinajpur and an Indian Secular Front candidate and another person at Bhangar in South 24 Parganas barely a few miles east of capital Kolkata, the High Court directed the SEC to requisition central forces within 48 hours failing which it would suo motu take stronger action.
"It is not a slap … rather it is a sandal that has landed on the cheeks of the State Government and the Commission," Bengal CPI(M) secretary Md Salim said adding, "Mamata Banerjee and her stooge administration has brought Bengal to such disrepute that the entire country is laughing at a State which was once seen as a pioneer of political views and movements."
Welcoming the decision State Opposition Leader Suvendu Adhikari said that his party would file a caveat in the Supreme Court to preempt the Bengal ruling outfit from extracting any ex parte order from the Apex Court.
In Chopra, Uttar Dinajpur, a Left-Congress rally was allegedly fired upon by Trinamool Congress (TMC) supporters, killing Mansur Ali, a CPI(M) supporter. Several supporters of the Congress and Left suffered injuries.
In the afternoon, a clash between TMC and the ISF was reported in Bhangar, leading to an ISF worker being shot dead.
Thursday’s killings take the total number of poll-related deaths to three including the Congress worker who was shot dead at Murshidabad a few days ago. Both the places witnessed day-long bombing and firing by alleged TMC men apparently in order to scare off the Opposition candidates approaching the respective BDO office.
A number of vehicles including pick-up vans were set on fire even as the miscreants charged bombs at the media men who proceeded to video-graph the felony. "We have no orders from above and so we are standing in the safe zone," a senior police officer requesting anonymity said at Bhangar.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee however, remained on the denial mode even as she said that the violence that had taken place had no TMC hands and that the Opposition parties
had ignited them in order to sully the image of Bengal Government.
"Some local tensions had taken place but that had nothing to do with our party … we want democracy to prevail and that will prevail … we just only want to remind the Left how they conducted polls in 2003 and 2008 when so many people were killed … now they are blaming us … the CPI(M) has provoked violence for many years this time."