Last Saturday, the Election Commission of West Bengal (India) Amarendra Singh held a meeting of election observers at Sisir Manch in Kolkata. Singh was exasperated. “Total anarchy going on in the state,” he told his colleagues. He detailed at least “six incidents of anarchy from across the state.” When a man like Singh uses the word “anarchy,” he means mayhem and disorder. It is a stiff word to use. It refers to the fact that the state administration has lost control of the streets. West Bengal, which is governed by the Trinamul Congress (TMC), is to hold local body elections in 42,000 seats across this state of 91 million people. These elections are to be held in the first week of May. Across the state, as opposition candidates went to file their nomination papers, thugs associated with the TMC beat them and denied them this basic democratic right—to run for elections.

West Bengal Election Anarchy Is the Latest Example of Democracy Going Down the Drain | NewsClick