West Bengal elections: In Jangalmahal, central forces no longer feared

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As per official sources, around 255 companies — each comprising 80-100 personnel — of central forces will be deployed on each of the first two polling dates — April 4 and 11 — when 18 and 31 constituencies will go to the polls, respectively. Most of these seats make up the core influence area of Maoists in West Bengal.

The CRPF officer isn’t sure of such requirement of forces here. Ever since his arrival, he has spent most days standing in the scorching sun for hours. “Yaha pe toh gaon walo ko humari aadat hai. Wardi se kaha darenge yeh (Villagers here are used to us. They won’t fear the uniform),” he said.

Villagers agree.

“When we were younger, armed forces would send us scurrying into homes. We were as afraid of them as we were of Maoists. Today, I saw children play with men from the forces. They don’t make us nervous,” said Dibakar Banerjee, a villager.

Over 1,400 personnel will remain present in each constituency on April 4, and 800 in each seat on April 11, said officials. CM Mamata Banerjee made veiled references to the central forces and Election Commission at a rally in Lalgarh when she advised her supporters “not to be scared of the outsiders.” She added, “I am not dead. I will always fight.”

However, despite her assurance, fear is never far away at Jangalmahal. “We aren’t afraid of Maoists anymore or armed forces. But we are afraid that this period of normalcy is just a bubble, which will burst soon… now they (government) are giving us rice and water. But what will happen when the rice runs out? There aren’t any jobs here. People will rise up again and it’ll be worse than ever before,” warns Bibhash Murmu, a villager.