Violence and intimidation in West Bengal panchayat polls impact women candidates

Nomination for the panchayat polls in the State ended on June 15

Three-year-old Rajdeep kept sucking a mango seed for almost half an hour. There is nothing his mother can give the toddler except food to keep him occupied because the family has been taking shelter at Maheshwari Sadan in Kolkata for the past eight days. The child’s mother, Pallavi Mistri (24), a resident of Mullickpur gram panchayat under the Falta Assembly seat in West Bengal’s South 24 Parganas district, is a candidate for zilla parishad number 64, and had to leave her village after filing nomination papers on June 14.  

Several candidates, including women who have filed nomination papers to contest the panchayat polls as Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidates, have taken shelter at Maheshwari Sadan in north Kolkata, just a hundred metres away from the State BJP headquarters at 6, Murlidhar Sen Lane.

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“From the moment we filed the nomination papers, we started receiving threats. We were followed for several kilometres but somehow we could escape and ended up here,” Raju Mistri, Ms. Pallavi’s husband, who has been staying with her since June 14, said.

The rooms on the first floor of the old building, which is usually used as a hostel, were all occupied by BJP candidates who have filed nomination papers to contest the panchayat polls.

Kalpana Halder and her husband Tapas Halder, who have come from Diamond Harbour in South 24 Parganas and had taken shelter at the building, are sharing the room with the Mistry family. While the Mistry family explained that the closed circuit cameras at the government office where the nomination papers were filed would reveal the identity of the miscreants, a caretaker of the building came and reminded them that they would have to vacate the place as the booking was only for a week.

The adjoining room is mostly occupied by men, who themselves or their wives, are contesting the rural polls.  Pintu Sardar’s wife, Satyaparna Orang Sardar, is a candidate from Nazat 2 gram panchayat polls from Sandeshkhali in the State’s North 24 Parganas. “She was here till yesterday and now has gone to her father’s place. We will have to leave our houses in both cases , whether we win or lose,” Mr. Sadar said.