VZCZCXRO8519
PP RUEHBI RUEHCI
DE RUEHCI #0153 1411153
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 201153Z MAY 08
FM AMCONSUL KOLKATA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2002
INFO RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI PRIORITY 1880
RUEHCG/AMCONSUL CHENNAI PRIORITY 0871
RUEHBI/AMCONSUL MUMBAI PRIORITY 0876
RUEHKA/AMEMBASSY DHAKA PRIORITY 0587
RUEHKT/AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU PRIORITY 0574
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEIDN/DNI WASHINGTON DC
RHMFIUU/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RUEHCI/AMCONSUL KOLKATA 2444

UNCLAS KOLKATA 000153 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM IN
SUBJECT: OVER 30 KILLED IN LOCAL BODY ELECTIONS IN WEST BENGAL 
 
REF: KOLKATA 148 
 
¶1.  (U) Summary: Voting in West Bengal's Panchayat (local body) 
elections concluded May 18.  The voting took place in three 
separate phases and was marked by violence and intimidation, 
resulting in approximately 30 deaths.   Compared to the last 
Panchayat elections in 2003, where over 70 died, this election 
was less violent.  However, the importance of these local 
elections is that they give West Bengal's political parties 
significant control over resources and communities at the 
grassroots level.  Election results are due May 21.  End Summary. 
 
¶2.  (U) Voting in West Bengal's Panchayat elections wrapped up 
on May 18.  The third phase of voting, however, was particularly 
violent.  Ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) 
activists fought with Congress supporters in Malda and 
Murshidabad districts, and the news media reported 20 deaths, 
with the highest number of casualties occurring in Murshidabad, 
a Congress stronghold. 
 
¶3.  (U) The violence was not limited to battles between the CPM 
and opposition parties alone.  During the second phase of voting 
on May 14, armed CPM activists moved freely around the Nandigram 
villages intimidating voters and in 24 South Parganas District, 
they also fought with supporters of the CPM's Left Front 
partner, the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP). CPM cadres 
allegedly bombed and set fire to the house of the West Bengal 
Irrigation Minister, an RSP member, killing a relative.  Other 
media reports claimed that at least three RSP supporters died at 
the hands of CPM loyalists. 
 
¶4.  (U) Comment:  The intra-coalition fighting, while disturbing 
particularly in its use and acceptance of violence as a means of 
ensuring political control, does not indicate a schism within 
the Left Front.  The RSP and smaller Left Front partners do not 
have the strength to compete with the CPM.  Winning a Panchayat 
election does, however, give political parties significant 
control over the daily lives of their constituents and 
opportunity for economic enrichment (and graft).  In that 
respect, West Bengal is still very much a state of villages, and 
the CPM in particular maintains its control over West Bengal by 
exerting its influence at the grassroots level. 
 
JARDINE