Stooping to conquer
The defining feature of the 2021 Assembly elections in West Bengal is the image of a lone intrepid woman with a broken leg in a wheelchair. She is dressed simply in her trademark white sari. She has taken on the country’s most popular politician and his retinue consisting of the Union Home Minister, the BJP president, UP Chief Minister and a stream of bigwigs single-handedly, in a David v/s Goliath battle.
How did she break her leg? She was boarding her car after an election rally, when the crowd that had come dangerously close to her put pressure on the car’s door when only one leg was safely inside. In numerous rallies supervised by me in my halcyon days, I have witnessed this mad rush of admirers, or may be just onlookers, towards the presiding star.
On one memorable occasion in the Mumbai suburb of Chembur, Indira Gandhi was escorted to her car after a rally, when the crowd rushed to greet her. One portly woman of overbearing mien used her ample strength to muscle her way to the car and poke her head through the window adjoining the PM’s seat. Indira Gandhi was visibly upset!
It was out of the question to lay our hands on the offender as she was a woman. I was nonplussed, but a junior police officer used his presence of mind, quickly removed his nameplate fastened by a pin to his shirt pocket, and stuck the pin into the ample derriere of the offender, causing her to first wince, and then instantly remove her mug from the car’s window.
Some such out-of-the-box thinking would have prevented the bone injury to Didi, but then, the ‘bhadralok’ would have been deprived of the defining picture of the 2021 election that is bound to go down in the annals of Bengal’s electoral history, particularly if ‘Didi-oh-Didi’ emerges successful. There is a 51:49 chance she will, in which case the broken bone will mend faster than her age would normally demand!
The broken leg and the wheelchair would be of help in her campaign for a third term, neutralising the incumbency’s negative factor. Her popularity as a selfless worker with minimum wants is a second advantage that would neutralise Modi’s popularity with the Indian masses. In a state election, a local demigod like Mamata Banerjee takes precedence over a national demigod like Narendra Modi. That the BJP was forced to divest a sizeable portion of its war chest, and train all its big guns on this single warrior woman will not be lost on Bengal’s electorate.
And what does one make of the CISF firing near the election booth at Sitalkuchi in Cooch-Behar that claimed four lives? The CISF, like the CRPF and the BSF, is a paramilitary force controlled by the Union Home Ministry. Under normal conditions, it can be deployed only at the request of the state government. As Special Secretary in the Home Ministry, I had personally supervised the induction of several paramilitary battalions of the BSF and the CRPF by air into Assam to help the state government in the conduct of Assembly elections in January 1986. They operated under the instructions of the state government, as was always the rule.
The Home Ministry’s forces must have reported to the DGP of West Bengal. Their deployment and utilisation should have been left to the state government. If the rules have changed after Amit Shah assumed the mantle of the Home Minister, I am not aware. From what I have read, there is an uneasy feeling that these forces reported to the Election Commission directly, which was earlier never the case. It is the state administration that is responsible for law and order. During elections, the Chief Secretary and the DGP do report to the Election Commission on matters related to the conduct of the elections. The latter can direct increased deployment at certain places at certain times, but the EC cannot instruct the armed forces of the union on how, when and where it should use force. That is the duty of the state.
So, the accusations flying thick and fast between Modi and Mamata give the impression that the rules of the game have been altered. When were they altered? Are the altered instructions put down in writing? Do the paramilitary forces operate under the state government’s officials or not? If the old rules still apply, the firing by the CISF had to be ordered by a Magistrate specially deputed to the spot, or the local police officers present at the site.
And, finally, there is the unfortunate feeling gaining currency that the Election Commission of India is losing its old sheen. It was nationally and internationally recognised as a strictly impartial umpire which routinely ensured free and fair elections, bereft of any bias, real or perceived. The BJP’s assaults on institutions of governance have unfortunately gone beyond the fringes of this fine institution, whose base was constructed by a giant called TN Seshan, and then, nurtured by a succession of gentler giants, but giants all the same.
The commission’s one-day ban on the TMC’s sole star campaigner for an arguably explainable default did not go down well with the more justice-conscious members of the public. It gave an advantage to her opponents, for which she partly compensated by sitting on a dharna in a public square, drawing and sketching, and thereby drawing attention to the injustice.
The thinking public of our ancient land will appreciate a little more civility during elections. The electioneering in Bengal has crossed all limits, and not only in the number of days it took to complete the process. The BJP upped the ante with all the money and organisation at its command. But its election talk could have been way more civilised than it proved to be. From my PM, in particular, I as a patriotic citizen expected much more refinement.
The three words, ‘Didi-oh-Didi’, drawled and punctuated in the tone used by Modi, will remain embedded in Bengal’s memory for a long time. Who knows the words may boomerang on Modi, as the ‘chaiwala’ jibe boomeranged on Mani Shankar Aiyar and the Congress on another occasion in an earlier election!
