Grassroots peace – Free and fair elections to local bodies are not possible without peace

Source: The post is based on the article “Grassroots peace – Free and fair elections to local bodies are not possible without peace” published in The Hindu on 20th June 2023

Syllabus: GS 2 – Devolution of powers and finances up to local levels and challenges therein.

Relevance: About Local body elections in West Bengal.

News: Local body elections in West Bengal has scheduled for July. Ever since the notification of polls, seven persons from prominent political parties have died.

About the High Court order

In response, Calcutta High Court directed the deployment of central forces in all districts. The court said that, The State government and the State Election Commission (SEC) do not have enough resources at their disposal to conduct the mammoth exercise across the State on a single day. The court also clarified that the cost of the deployment will be borne by the Centre and not the State government.

Both, the SEC and the West Bengal government have approached the Supreme Court of India challenging the Calcutta High Court order.

What are the previous challenges with local body elections in West Bengal?

-In 2013, the SEC itself sought Supreme Court direction for the deployment of central forces.

-In the 2018 local body polls, there was no deployment of central forces. But, more than one-third of the seats were won by the ruling party of the state without any opposition. This is because the opposition parties were not allowed to put up any candidate in these seats.

– In the upcoming polls, the Opposition parties have not been able to file nominations in about 50 of the 341 blocks of the State amid reports of the intimidation of candidates.

What should be done?

The Governor has established a peace room. It is a control room where citizens can register their grievances related to the polls. The grievances filed will be forwarded to the State government and the SEC. The Governor urged the state government to consider complaints of violence seriously. This should be done.

West Bengal was among the first States to have a three-tier panchayat system aimed at democratic decentralisation. So, all the stakeholders including political parties should ensure the exercise of electing panchayat functionaries does not turn into lawlessness and chaos.