We need to break chain of violence at every election

livemint.com:

moochh-ka-sawaal (a question of honour). The case continued. In the meantime, his family and that of his rival engaged in violent conflicts.

The verdict was delivered almost four years later, and it was not in his favour. Since then, I’ve been wrestling with one question: Why was so much money spent and blood spilt for an election to a post like a block pramukh? The violence during West Bengal’s panchayat elections has reignited this old debate. Our democracy is said to be going through an Amrit Kaal, but when will we be able to obtain any Amrit (nectar)? West Bengal is no stranger to violence.

Here every election is a bloodbath. Every time we heard the allegation of state-sponsored violence. In the last four decades, the Election Commission has improved its system, election after election.

This time, a substantial number of central forces were also stationed in West Bengal. Despite this, almost 40 people were killed. A total of 72 persons were killed around the country during the 2019 election year.

It is frightening to see so many deaths in West Bengal alone. In this regard, the neighbouring North East and Jharkhand are no less notorious. The question is, who is to blame for this carnage? All the victims were men, and the majority of them were breadwinners of their families.

Let me tell you what I witnessed during the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections in 1974. A female candidate was contesting on a Congress ticket. In that constituency, it was customary that no one could win without “stopping" the votes of people from rival party castes.