Forces, not parties, took them to booths @ The Times of India

PURULIA: If political activity is stiffled, security forces often fill in part of that vacuum. Paramilitary forces did just that when they walked the broken roads to the huts in this remote part of the Balarampur assembly constituency, and herded voters to the polling booth in this Maoist-affected Ghatbera-Keroa gram panchayat.

Villages under this panchayat remained inaccessible to the CPM since 2009. Even the panchayat office was locked after eight CPM men were killed. Ironically, the CPM could not depute polling agents in this gram panchayat. The villagers put up a brave front and queued up to the polling booths from seven in the morning.

"We were scared during the 2009 Lok Sabha polls. Maoists had pasted posters in the locality asking villagers to stay away from voting. One such poster was pasted on my house. I fled my house on that day and took refuge at my relative`s place in Purulia. But it was different this time. The block development officer told us to vote without fear," said Santi Hansda.

CPM candidate alleged that some Maoist and Trinamool Congress activists had threatened their polling agents on Monday night. Trinamool candidate Santiram Mahato rubbished the charge. "The Ghatbera-Keora area and Gitinglahar areas have not seen development for a long time. There are no proper roads and no drinking water. The CPM-run panchayat is steeped in corruption in regard to the MGNREGA. Local residents raised their voice one day and locked the panchayat office. The government, not to be cowed down, retaliated by slapping false cases against the villagers and put them be hind bars," said Mahato.

Birbal Tudu is among the ones who did not vote on Tuesday. "What could I do? I cannot rely on security forces. Last year, I saw a person being killed just beside my house. I am yet to get over that," said Tudu.

Voters if needed to be escorted to booths: EC @ Hindustan Times

Election Commission has made arrangements to escort voters to their polling stations during the last phase of the assembly elections to be held on Tuesday. The districts of West Midnapore, Purulia and Bankura — all Left Wing Extremist (LWE)-affected areas — are going to polls on Tuesday. A total of

26,57,434 electors would decide the fate of 97 candidates contesting the 14 assembly seats across the three districts.

Sunil Gupta, chief electoral officer (CEO) of West Bengal, said, “Voters would be escorted to polling stations in case of any problem.” Besides, the CEO also made an appeal to the voters to come out and cast their vote fearlessly as the Election Commission of India has made unprecedented security arrangements.

Unlike other phases, the voting time for this phase of polls would be from 7am to 3pm.

The CEO also informed that after conducting an extensive survey for three months 1,805 vulnerable hamlets have been identified and the ECI contacted all vulnerable persons, briefed them about the security arrangement, assured them and asked them to come and vote.

The sectors in this phase of polling have been kept smaller to ensure fast replacement of EVMs in case a fault occurs with an EVM. In addition all polling officials have been asked to check the EVMs before leaving for their respective polling stations. The ECI has also deployed 272 micro observers, positioned 371 digital cameras and 219 video cameras besides making arrangements for web casting from 50 places.

The CEO also said that two helicopters have been conducting aerial supervision for the last five days.

One more (the third) helicopter also joined the existing two on Sunday and the third helicopter would be used for aerial supervision in Bankura on Tuesday. Gupta added that the force has reached their respective areas and have started area domination flag march and route march in the areas to isntill confidence among voters.

Last lap ends in high rush, it’s hush hour till May 13 @ Indian Express

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Amid high security, polling ended peacefully today in the sixth and the final phase of West Bengal Assembly elections for 14 seats in the Maoist heartland of Purulia, West Mindapore and Bankura, which saw a huge turnout despite earlier calls of boycott by Maoists and widespread fears of bloodshed.



In Junglemahal, alleged Maoist sympathisers who had earlier warned locals not to come out for voting were seen rallying people to booths.



The voter turnout in the region today was 10 per cent higher than the 2009 Assembly elections although the voting ended at 3 pm. The final voting recorded today was 85.09 per cent on an average in all the 14 constituencies. In the 2009 parliamentary polls, the overall voting percentage was 76.49 per cent.



While West Midnapore recorded 87.24 per cent voting, Purulia and Bankura recorded 80.22 and 85.58 per cent, respectively.

Bloc-massacre village shuns polls for fear of Maoists@ The Telegraph

Bagbinda (Purulia), May 10: Purulia may have recorded an 80.4 per cent turnout today but residents of a village where four Forward Bloc members were killed by alleged Maoists five months ago mostly stayed away.

“Our lives are more important than our vote,” said Aju Paramanik, a resident of Bagbinda village. “We manage one square meal a day. That is much better than ending up with a bullet in the head,” Paramanik, the village barber, said.

The polling booths for three villages — Bagbinda, Noagarh and Chirutar — had been set up in Bagbinda. Although 30 per cent of the 1,097 voters in these villages cast their ballots, most of them were from Noagarh and Chirutar. The low turnout was in sharp contrast with that of Baghmundi, the constituency under which Bagbinda falls. The seat recorded a turnout of 81.78 per cent, the highest in the district.


In Bagbinda, the majority of the residents stayed away for fear of Maoist attacks. Several of the residents said the Maoist strike that killed four villagers was still fresh on their minds. The relatives of the four victims had fled the village after the attack. The kin of only one of them turned up to vote today.

When The Telegraph visited Bagbinda, situated at the foothills of the Maoist-affected Ayodhya Hills, this morning, it found the doors of the houses of the four victims locked from outside. On the night of December 16, the Maoists had dragged the four Bloc members out of their homes and shot them dead, accusing them of being police informers. Three more part members in neighbouring Gutilowa, Chirutar and Noagarh were killed in similar fashion.

Sarada Gorai, the aunt-in-law of Bagbinda village pradhan Chapala Gorai who was one of the victims, said today: “Chapala’s husband Dukhu and son Bijoy fled their home after the attack. They did not come to vote today. I also did not vote.”

Sarada, 65, said she knew that massive security arrangements had been made. “But I did not fearing another Maoist attack,” she said, whispering the name of the place where Dhuku and Bijoy had taken refuge.

Subrata Mahato, the grandson of 80-year-old Bloc member Gopeswar Mahato who was another of the victims, also did not vote. “I was not at home on the night of the attack. I still don’t understand why the rebels killed an old man,” he said. Like Subrata, the wife and children of the fourth victim, Gobardhan Singh, stayed away from the polling booth. All of them have fled Bagbinda.

Only the relatives of Kinkar Singh, another victim, voted. They came to Bagbinda from Jhalda in an auto.

Mangal Mahato, the Bloc candidate for Baghmundi, conceded the turnout was low in Bagbinda but denied that the relatives of the party victims stayed away for fear of Maoists. “They (the relatives) may have gone for work to other places,” he said.

Bhuniya plea to PC

State Congress chief Manas Bhuniya today urged Union home minister P. Chidambaram to request the chief election commissioner to keep the paramilitary forces in Bengal till May 31.

“We apprehend post-poll violence after the results on May 13. This is why I have requested Chidambaramji to ensure that the paramilitary forces stay here till May 31,” Bhuniya told a news conference in Calcutta this afternoon.

He alleged that central forces had not been adequately deployed in West Midnapore’s Garbeta, where Congress candidate Hema Choubey is contesting against the CPM’s Sushanta Ghosh.

“Instead of CRPF jawans, policemen from Karnataka and Maharastra were deployed there.”

Few villagers cast votes in Purulia killing fields @ The Times of India ... TNN | May 11, 2011, 07.11am IST

PURULIA: The droning sound of the helicopter high above, or the overbearing presence of central forces in this village failed to assure the residents of Baghbinda near the Ayodhya Hills. A total of 40 people turned up at the polling booth, despite requests from the administration and political parties. This is one slice of the Bagmundi constituency in Purulia that recorded a high polling on Tuesday.

Baghbinda village lost its rhythm since December 16, 2010, when seven Forward Bloc supporters were gunned down by Maoists. Many families fled their homes and went to Jhalda, Bokaro and Purulia, never to come back again. Their huts remain, not the men.

Those who stayed back didn`t turn up to the polling booth till 8.30 in the morning. And this despite repeated requests from Forward Bloc leader Nishikanta Mehta and his comrades. Even DM A K Singha had promised security to the 7,000-odd population of which 1,029 have their names in the electoral rolls.

"We do not believe in assurances anymore. We have been demanding a permanent police camp in the area since long. It hasn`t come up as yet. Who will take the responsibility if anything happens to us after the polls? The security forces won`t be staying for long," said Bijoli Mahato who turned down requestes from Forward Bloc and CPM activists. At the end of the day, there were 330 voters in the Baghbinda booth. Most of them from the adjoining areas , while a few from Baghbinda went to vote.

One of those few people who voted on Tuesday was Mangala Soren. "The wealthy in our village have fled to safer places. Some took shelter in the relief camps organised by political parties.

But we have no place to go. We are getting support from the panchayat. So, my family thus voted today," said Soren.

Forward Bloc leader Nishikanta Mehta didn`t insist on voting. "I requested the villagers to go to the polling booth. But I didn`t force them because I can`t provide them security. The village is yet to get over the scare," he said. Trinamool Congress district president K.P. Singhdeo also felt that the villagers should not be disturbed. "The Left supporters used to force the villagers cast their votes in their favour. But the villagers have become conscious now. They can decide their course on their own," the Trinamool leader said.

Can Mamata tun around Purulia’s fate?

Can Mamata tun around Purulia’s fate?
PURULIA: Well before Mamata Banerjee's chopper landed on the J K College ground on Monday afternoon, the sun began a game of hide and seek with dark rain-bearing clouds - warning of a nor'wester that didn't materialise. In the end there wasn't any respite from the heat wave that has already taken Purulia into its grasp.

Ominous signs, maybe. Will Mamata's winds of change stop blowing in the district of Purulia, leaving the people to suffer the stifling heat of a regime that has done little in the last three decades for the development of what can easily be listed as one of the most backward districts in the country.

If attendance is anything to go by, Mamata's rally in Purulia wasn't a grand success. Of the 6,000-odd people who had turned up at the venue, nearly a quarter had been attracted by the helicopter. The remaining were hardcore Didi fans, no doubt. But would this be good enough to storm the Left citadel like Purulia?

Things have certainly changed in the district. This time round, the Trinamool Congress' posters, banners and wall-graffiti match that of the CPM, at least in numbers. Thanks to the Trinamool-controlled Purulia Municipality, all lamp posts and pillars in the town have been painted in the colours of the tri-colour. The Trinamool's Ghas Phool is missing though and one can't blame the civic bosses for having a 'patriotic' bent of mind.

But then, is the Trinamool a potent enough force to take on the Left in this district? The Congress symbol is conspicuous by its absence from the banners and graffiti that urge voters to support the Congress-Trinamool alliance. The Left Front may have swept the district in the 2006 Vidhan Sabha polls but the Congress does have a base in Purulia. On Monday, not a single Congress leader from the district shared the dais with Mamata.

The Trinamool chief didn't seem to mind and went on about how she would develop the district and ensure that people didn't have to search for jobs elsewhere. She claimed that the Congress-Trinamool alliance has already won sufficient seats to form a government. "We are just looking forward to consolidating our position," she said.

"The CPM will offer you bicycles, mobile phones and also money. Accept the gifts but vote for the Congress-Trinamool alliance. After all, the 'comrades' are not spending their own money on such gifts. It is your money they are spending," Mamata said.

In 2006, save for the Jhalda constituency, all seats had gone to the Left in Purulia. Based on the 2009 Lok Sabha results and the delimitation, the Congress-Trinamool alliance may win upto four of the nine seats in the district this time round. In 2006, the Congress and Trinamool hadn't succeeded in forging an alliance but statistics reveal that in most places, the Left candidates got larger numbers of votes than the Congress and Trinamool taken together. This time, Mamata has left three of the nine seats for the Congress. The Left has a clear advantage in two of these. No wonder, not all is well within the Congress ranks.