According to later reports, these people had crossed over from North Bengal areas into neighbouring Bangladesh and Assam, fearing for their lives and safety. As the movement of such ‘political refugees’ increased before and during election day, Assam authorities had put them up in relief camps. Officials later arranged for the return of around 1200 affected families. Kolkata-based Bengal officials avoided commenting on the issue.

However, Guwahati-based newsmen reported that Assam Government had been active in securing the return from different pockets of Bangladesh of around 120 West Bengali families, which had escaped mainly from Coochbehar district. Among those displaced were some candidates who had filed nominations to contest Gram Panchayat (GP) seats in the three-tier elections, for the opposition parties.

A Leftist daily in Kolkata has now published an account of the travails of the affected people. They complained of a relentless terror campaign conducted by local Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders against their families.

Families of Left candidates who did not agree to withdraw nominations were targeted, including women and children. Their houses were targeted for stoning, bombing and arson attacks. Without any help from the state police or the para military forces, most people from the Char Balabhut and adjacent areas in Coochbehar had fled.

The most prominent TMC leader in the area is Mr Udayan Guha, known for his vitriolic attacks against the BJP and the Left. Mr Sarma refused to comment officially on the poll-related violence in West Bengal, in a tweet.

While many details are still awaited about the incident, there is little doubt that it contradicts totally the official version of the West Bengal Government regarding the genesis and later trends of the sustained post-poll violence.

Chief minister Ms Mamata Banerjee had claimed that isolated violence had occurred only in 60 out of 63,000 poll booths, and 19 people were killed. Unlike 2018, many opposition candidates could file their nominations and had even won some GP seats, she said. According to unofficial Bengal media reports at least 50 people were killed during the pre-poll campaign, on election day and even much later!

Opposition parties across the board allege that state government authorities were determined to allow a one-sided terror campaign to be conducted by the ruling Trinamool Congress(TMC) against them, for as long as possible .

Bengal administration, it is further alleged, allows opposition parties to organise rallies and meetings only after they secure legal clearance from the judiciary, even at normal times. This has been an administrative norm since 2011, the year Ms Banerjee led her party to a major victory over the once mighty Left front.

In 2023, the level of violence has shaken seasoned politicians even within the TMC, including Ministers Like Mr Sobhandeb Chatterjee, MLAs Humayun Kabir, Abdul Karim Choudhury and Chiranjeet Chakravarty. In a rare concession to offended public sentiments, even Ms Banerjee has expressed her ‘regret’ over the present spell of violence.

Her numerous critics are not impressed. They recall that the Chief minister usually describes major outbreaks of violence, communal riots , etc as ‘childish pranks by a few people’ ; for her, ‘miscreants’ mean opposition party activists ; and alleged rapes are ‘ staged drama to denigrate the Bengal Government.’

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is still being seen by the rural and urban poor as a honest leader who works for the underprivileged, but the relentless recent exposure of massive financial scams and corruption involving her senior party functionaries — some of them are already behind bars, while numerous lawsuits continue against others! — has taken much of the shine off the TMC supremo’s image. (IPA Service)