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Journalism of Courage
With West Bengal reporting a steady 80 to 90 per cent polling,a strange freedom from fear has characterised polling as much in Kolkata as in other urban centres and the large swathes of rural Bengal. But the momentousness of this election alone doesnt explain that lack of fear. The elaborate preparations the Election Commission made to order for West Bengal seem to have paid off. The EC began last October,breaking polling into six phases making more-rounds-the-better an axiom for Bengals literal battlefields to optimally deploy security personnel for the six days.
The irony in armoured vehicles and gun turrets encouraging the electorate to come out and vote is uncharacteristically blunt. But we are talking about a state long confined to a class of its own in terms of the longevity of its elected government and the bloodshed that any election,at any level,unhesitatingly provoked. Therefore,the EC must be congratulated for the spectacularly violence-free polls so far. For,the memory of free and fair elections in Bengal had faded thin after decades of enduring cadres calling on residents to either drag them to the booth or prevent them from stepping out of their homes or,ultimately,to physically keep them from voting inside the polling station. Thats to say nothing of
all-out cadre battles on the street. This time round,those bombs and guns and goons appear to have vanished into thin air.
Whether the large turnouts are the result of a reduced electorate base figure or the lack of intimidation is irrelevant. Whats not irrelevant is the weeding out of the names of false and deceased voters from the electoral rolls,which combined with delimitation to make the electorate size realistic and manageable across constituencies. Todays penultimate fifth phase will be followed by the most challenging phase of all on May 10,covering the most troubled part of the state Jungle Mahal. If this forbiddingly elaborate exercise
has been a comment on the states law and order and security,and thereby an indictment of its political culture,it is also a concrete model of efficiency for Bengals next government.
