EC Must Thwart Trinamool's Unscrupulous Election Tactics In Bengal — Here's A Blueprint

The stakes are extremely high for Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee in the ensuing Lok Sabha polls. Much higher, in fact, than that of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Bengal. 

Banerjee is determined to increase her party’s 2019 tally of 22 seats in order to emerge as the most influential constituent in the non-Congress opposition bloc. 

The Trinamool’s prospects outside Bengal are dim, notwithstanding its tall claims of ‘national party’ status. Hence, it has to concentrate on winning a maximum number of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state.

Failure to do so will deal a blow to Banerjee’s ‘national ambitions’ and will severely erode her status in the anti-BJP camp. 

But it will be difficult for the Trinamool Congress to perform well in the Lok Sabha polls given the strong anti-incumbency against it. 

The Trinamool’s image, and even that of Banerjee, has taken a beating following the many scams that its top functionaries have been found to be involved in. 

The school recruitment scam, the cash-for-jobs scam in the Trinamool-run civic bodies, the cattle smuggling scam, the ration scam and the illegal coal mining scam, to name a few, have dented the image of the Trinamool. 

Reports about the involvement of Mamata Banerjee’s nephew Abhishek in some of these scams and in money-laundering rackets has tarnished her image as well. 

The Sandeshkhali protests, and the revelations of the horrific exploitation of women there by Trinamool functionaries, will also cost the party electorally. 

Syphoning of funds provided by the Union government for centrally-sponsored schemes like the MGNREGA, the PM-AWAS Yojana, the PMGSY and even midday meals in schools by corrupt Trinamool functionaries at the panchayat and block levels has resulted in New Delhi halting disbursal of funds to Bengal for these schemes and projects. 

This has led to misery for the poor in the rural and semi-urban areas of the state. 

The Trinamool’s campaign blaming the Union government for depriving Bengal of funds has found few takers in the state.

The Trinamool will surely have to pay a price for this in the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls. Banerjee’s strategy of covering up all these through doles to women, poor and unemployed is likely to have a limited effect.  

All these factors make the Trinamool’s task of winning at least 35 seats (the goal set by Banerjee) difficult, if not impossible. 

And that is why the Trinamool Congress will try every trick in the book to ensure it gets as close to the target as possible. More so since the BJP is also keen on improving its 2019 tally of 18 seats in order to meet its national target of bagging at least 370 seats. Prime Minister Narendra Modi set a target of winning all 42 seats for the party leaders in Bengal.

The Trinamool is likely to use various tactics, including threats, intimidation, and electoral malpractices, to win the elections.

It is up to the Election Commission of India (ECI) to thwart these attempts and ensure the sanctity of the election process.

Here are some of the steps that the ECI should take to ensure the sanctity of the election process in Bengal:

Ensure That The State Administration Remains Unbiased

It will be tough to do this since the state administration, including the state police force, is notorious in Bengal for bending to the will of the ruling party in the state. 

But the ECI can, and must, insulate the election process from the partisanship of the state administration by sending a strong message to all state officials that any misdeed on their part would be met with punitive measures, including dismissal from service. 

This message has to be conveyed unambiguously to everyone from the police constable to the DGP and from the clerk to the chief secretary. 

The ECI must hand out exemplary punishment to any official who acts in a partisan manner so as to deter others from acting similarly. 

Stagger Elections Over 10 Stages

In 2019, polling was conducted on seven days spread out over more than five weeks across Bengal. While that minimised rigging to a large extent, it could not completely eliminate defilement of the poll process by the Trinamool Congress. 

This time, the ECI should conduct polls on 10 days stretching over six weeks or more. That will ensure comfortable movement of central forces from one place to another. And it will also facilitate proper vigil by the central forces to thwart foul play. 

Smart Deployment Of Central Forces

In 2019, 400 companies of central forces (about 41,000 personnel) were deployed in Bengal. 

This year, 920 companies of central forces will be deployed, the highest among all states of the country.

But it is important to deploy these forces smartly and keep them out of the control of the state police. 

The ECI should allow the officers of the central forces, as well as police observers (senior police officers from other states) sent to Bengal to decide on the deployment of the forces. The state police should be barred from having any say on such deployment. 

The central forces and police observers should be instructed to interact closely with opposition parties to get a good idea of areas vulnerable to subversion. 

The central forces should be granted full immunity from any action that they take to ensure the sanctity of the poll process and ensure free and fair elections.    

Preventive Arrests Of All Goons

Preventive arrests before the elections are carried out in a perfunctory manner in Bengal.

The ECI must ensure that the state police arrest not only all listed goons, but all those identified by opposition parties as well as central forces. 

The central forces must also be empowered to raid bomb-making units and hideouts of criminals and the state police must be made to cooperate fully with the central forces. 

Tracking The Money Trail

Money plays a huge role in the Trinamool’s notorious ‘election management’. Enormous sums of money are paid to criminals to do the party’s bidding.

The ECI must deploy human and electronic surveillance to track and bust the money trail.

Increase Number Of Poll Observers

The ECI should deploy at least 20 central observers for each Lok Sabha constituency in Bengal. 

These observers — senior officers from other states and the Union government — must be vested with powers to recommend disciplinary action against state officials they suspect of acting in a partisan manner and to even countermand polls in places where any attempt is made to rig the elections. 

These poll observers should be asked to liaise closely with candidates and agents of opposition parties and take prompt action on complaints received from them. 

Warn State Government Against Foul Play

The ECI must send out a strict message to the Bengal government that any foul play — perceived or actual — on the state’s part will meet with strong punitive measures. 

The threat of invoking Article 355 that divests the state of control over the law and order machinery (the police force) must be held out.

But it should not be a mere threat — this provision of the Constitution must be invoked if the Trinamool Congress government crosses the red line as it had done in all the elections over the last 13 years (since it came to power in 2011).

The ECI must announce right now that central forces will continue to remain on the ground till much after the polls in order to instil confidence among the electorate. 

All these steps, and more, need to be taken to ensure the conduct of free and fair election in Bengal.