West Bengal’s History Of Political Violence, Explained

On the 8th of July, nearly 74,000 seats across the three tier panchayat system in West Bengal will go to the polls. As anticipated, once elections were announced, violence, aimed, seemingly, at preventing candidates from filing their nominations were reported from several districts across the state. The opposition parties: CPIM, BJP and Congress accuse the Trinamool Congress of using violence and the threat of violence to deter their candidates from contesting. Why is political violence endemic to West Bengal? What explains the paradox of consistent high voter turnouts in all levels of elections in the state in the face of violence?



We spoke to political scientist Prof Neelanjan Sircar.


Writer and host: Smitha Nair


Producer: Karnika Kohli


Graphics designer: Rubin D'Souza  




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