West Bengal tops the list of states where politics a motive for violence

The data reveals that West Bengal tops the list of states where politics is a motive for murder. The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data for politics as a reason for murder shows the numbers are quite small. The all-India figure for people who were murdered because of politics is only 61. But with 12 murders, West Bengal leaves others behind.
 

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been complaining that many of its cadres are victims of political violence in Bengal, because the police simply looks the other way when its workers are attacked. The  party has claimed more than 120 party workers have lost their lives in attacks allegedly carried out by Trinamool Congress (TMC) workers. The TMC has denied allegations of violence.

 

Violence in politics is a fact of life in Bengal, dating back to the days of the rule of the Left Front. However, recent elections have seen widescale violence, including deaths, in the state. In 2014 Lok Sabha polls, around 750 people were injured and seven killed in violent clashes. In comparison, three people had lost their lives in poll-related clashes in 2009.
 

In the 2015 civic polls, four people died and more than 460 incidents of violence were reported. In the 2018 panchayat polls, which appear to be another inflection point in political violence in Bengal, more than a dozen people lost their lives in election-related clashes. During the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, unprecedented violence accompanied Amit Shah’s rallies. At least three people died in poll-related violence. The BJP, after winning the Lok Sabha election, invited the kin of 42 party workers allegedly killed in political violence in Bengal to the second swearing-in ceremony of PM Narendra Modi. This sets the BJP’s agenda for the 2021 Bengal election.
 

Text and data: Aditi Phadnis and the National Crime Records Bureau Report, 2019