Kolkata, April 2 – The Election Commission has handed over the investigation into the gherao of seven judicial officers involved in the Special Intensive Revision exercise in Malda, West Bengal, to the NIA. This incident has plunged the state into further turmoil, with both the TMC and the BJP blaming each other.
While Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee accused Union Home Minister Amit Shah and the election panel of inciting unrest to facilitate President's rule in the election-bound state, the BJP alleged that the TMC orchestrated the Wednesday protest to protect "fake voters".
As political tensions escalated and the Supreme Court intervened to censure the state administration over the Malda episode, protests against the SIR (Special Intensive Revision) of electoral rolls spread across districts on Thursday, just three weeks before the first phase of the West Bengal Assembly election.
Protesters burned tires, blocked roads, and held silent marches in Malda, Jalpaiguri, Cooch Behar, and Purba Bardhaman, where voting is scheduled for April 23.
A day after the judicial officers were confined inside a block office in Malda's Kaliachak, the Election Commission handed over the investigation to the NIA, following a Supreme Court directive.
The top court delivered a scathing indictment of the state administration over the incident, noting that West Bengal is the "most polarized state".
It directed the election panel to deploy central forces at all centers where objections under SIR are being heard.
According to officials, seven judicial officers, including three women, were gheraoed from around 4 pm on Wednesday inside the Kaliachak 2 Block Development Office in Malda district by a large crowd, alleging that genuine voters' names had been deleted from the electoral rolls.
The officers were engaged in adjudicating cases of voters whose names had been marked "under consideration" in the draft electoral rolls published on February 28. Officials said the protesters initially sought a meeting with the officers.
When they were denied entry, they began a demonstration outside the office, which soon turned into a prolonged gherao.
The crowd also blocked National Highway-12, the main Kolkata-Siliguri highway, alleging large-scale deletion of names during the SIR exercise.
A large contingent of security personnel launched a rescue operation after midnight, and the judicial officers were finally brought out late at night. Protesters attempted to stop their vehicles and allegedly tried to vandalize the cars.
There were also allegations that a few protesters were injured after being hit by vehicles during the commotion, although officials said this could not be immediately confirmed.
The blockade on NH-12 continued for some more time. The Election Commission has sought a report from the state police chief over the incident.
Addressing rallies at Sagardighi and Suti in Murshidabad district, Banerjee sought a calibrated approach – condemning the gherao of judicial officers while simultaneously blaming the Election Commission and the BJP.
"No one should touch judges or judicial officers. People have every right to protest, but nobody should lay hands on them," she said. In the same breath, Banerjee alleged that the BJP and the Centre are using the Malda episode to malign Bengal and create conditions for central intervention.
"The BJP has made many plans, and the Government of India is acting as its accomplice. Amit Shah is preparing the blueprint of a conspiracy. He must resign. Do not fall into the trap of riots. This is the BJP's plan," she told people at the rallies. The chief minister claimed that after the announcement of the polls, she had effectively been stripped of administrative powers.
"My powers have been taken away, and Bengal has been defamed. Nobody from the administration even informed me about the Malda incident," she said.
Banerjee also attacked the poll panel for what she described as its failure to ensure the security of the judicial officers. "I condemn the Election Commission for failing to protect the judicial officers."
Backing the apex court's observations, she added, "The Supreme Court has rightly said so."
The TMC supremo appealed to her supporters not to respond to provocation and sought to project the BJP as a party banking on communal tension and polarisation after "failing" to defeat the TMC electorally.
State BJP spokesperson Debajit Sarkar accused the ruling party of instigating the agitation and said the TMC was panicking because the SIR exercise was identifying "fake voters".
"Afraid of losing the elections following the deletion of names of fake voters, the TMC has mobilized jihadi elements in the district and orchestrated this unconstitutional, illegal agitation, keeping judicial officers, magistrates, including women, confined in extreme heat and humid conditions for hours," he alleged.
As the political clash unfolded, protests against the SIR exercise spread across several districts. In Jalpaiguri, locals blocked NH-27 in Maynaguri on Thursday morning, alleging that many genuine voters had been marked as "deleted" or kept "under consideration".
Protesters also blocked the Maynaguri-Lataguri road and the Maynaguri-Dhupguri stretch of the Asian Highway at Churabhandar.
In Cooch Behar, locals blocked the Cooch Behar-Mathabhanga state highway at Madrasa More in the Pachagarh area for nearly three hours.
A silent march was organised in Purba Bardhaman's Shaktigarh, and a memorandum was submitted to the BDO of Bardhaman-II block.
