Eight killed in CPM-Congress turf war
Violence mars Panchayat Polls In Murshidabad as CPM tries to wrest Cong’s only bastion in West Bengal.
By TNN |
KOLKATA: In a desperate measure to wrest Murshidabad from the control of Adhir Choudhury, the Congress MP from the area, CPM unleashed a reign of terror during the third phase of panchayat elections on Sunday. Eight persons were killed here on Sunday indicating that political activists both from the CPM and the Congress were leaving no stone unturned to help their party gain an upper hand.
Political observers, who have been tracking the developments leading to the panchayat elections, had predicted that Murshidabad would see a battle between CPM and their long-standing nemesis Adhir Choudhury, and Sunday���s incidents proved just that.
The Congress MP, when contacted on Sunday, told ET: ���The CPM had planned the entire polling process in a way which would benefit their own cadres. This is the first time that panchayat polls in the state were held in a three phases and Murshidabad fell in the last. The ruling party could concentrate its entire terror machinery in areas which are traditional strongholds of the Congress. Central forces such as BSF and CRPF have been largely kept idle and the amount of violence that has taken place within the district is unbelievable.���
History, however, points out that elections in Murshidabad have always been bloody since Adhir Choudhury became a member of Parliament, for the first time, from Behrampore constituency in 1999. The Left forces, who had so far reigned over Murshidabad for decades, lost all three parliamentary constituencies of Jangipur, Behrampore and Murshidabad to Congress after Adhir took charge of the region. The last straw perhaps was the Murshidabad zila parishad seat, which the Congress wrested from the CPM in 2003.
While Congress��� strength in the rest of the state continued to decline over the years, Murshidabad emerged as a surprising success story which the CPM wanted to turn around. Local CPM leaders, however, claim that Left forces, this time around, are much more united than before. A senior CPM leader from the district said: ���In the last panchayat elections, there were 60 seats in the zila parishad, of which Congress won 33. But this time, less differences have occurred between the CPM and RSP leaders over the issue of seat sharing. Of the 254 gram panchayats that are there, we could not achieve a fair understanding with RSP only in 40 seats.���
���On the other hand,��� he added, ���Since the assembly elections of 2001, there has been tremendous infighting within the district Congress leadership, especially between the two factions led by Adhir Choudhury and Atish Sinha.��� Senior Congress leaders from Delhi also confirmed that the rivalry between the factions had taken such an ugly shape, that its impact could be felt in the forthcoming results of the panchayat polls. ���In the assembly elections of 2006, Adhir had launched his own candidates against the official candidates of the Congress and they succeeded to win almost all the seats. This time, in the panchayat polls, Adhir has replaced around 23 current candidates and brought in new faces. Problem lies in the fact that many of the candidates who have not been given ticket to fight polls this time are fighting on their own as independent candidates. This could prove costly for the Congress,��� said a senior party leader from the Capital.
While results to the election will be known later this week, Sunday���s incidents, tragic though they are, once again proved that at least in North Bengal, Adhir Choudhury remains a formidable force to reckon with.
Political observers, who have been tracking the developments leading to the panchayat elections, had predicted that Murshidabad would see a battle between CPM and their long-standing nemesis Adhir Choudhury, and Sunday���s incidents proved just that.
The Congress MP, when contacted on Sunday, told ET: ���The CPM had planned the entire polling process in a way which would benefit their own cadres. This is the first time that panchayat polls in the state were held in a three phases and Murshidabad fell in the last. The ruling party could concentrate its entire terror machinery in areas which are traditional strongholds of the Congress. Central forces such as BSF and CRPF have been largely kept idle and the amount of violence that has taken place within the district is unbelievable.���
History, however, points out that elections in Murshidabad have always been bloody since Adhir Choudhury became a member of Parliament, for the first time, from Behrampore constituency in 1999. The Left forces, who had so far reigned over Murshidabad for decades, lost all three parliamentary constituencies of Jangipur, Behrampore and Murshidabad to Congress after Adhir took charge of the region. The last straw perhaps was the Murshidabad zila parishad seat, which the Congress wrested from the CPM in 2003.
While Congress��� strength in the rest of the state continued to decline over the years, Murshidabad emerged as a surprising success story which the CPM wanted to turn around. Local CPM leaders, however, claim that Left forces, this time around, are much more united than before. A senior CPM leader from the district said: ���In the last panchayat elections, there were 60 seats in the zila parishad, of which Congress won 33. But this time, less differences have occurred between the CPM and RSP leaders over the issue of seat sharing. Of the 254 gram panchayats that are there, we could not achieve a fair understanding with RSP only in 40 seats.���
���On the other hand,��� he added, ���Since the assembly elections of 2001, there has been tremendous infighting within the district Congress leadership, especially between the two factions led by Adhir Choudhury and Atish Sinha.��� Senior Congress leaders from Delhi also confirmed that the rivalry between the factions had taken such an ugly shape, that its impact could be felt in the forthcoming results of the panchayat polls. ���In the assembly elections of 2006, Adhir had launched his own candidates against the official candidates of the Congress and they succeeded to win almost all the seats. This time, in the panchayat polls, Adhir has replaced around 23 current candidates and brought in new faces. Problem lies in the fact that many of the candidates who have not been given ticket to fight polls this time are fighting on their own as independent candidates. This could prove costly for the Congress,��� said a senior party leader from the Capital.
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While results to the election will be known later this week, Sunday���s incidents, tragic though they are, once again proved that at least in North Bengal, Adhir Choudhury remains a formidable force to reckon with.
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