In the month leading up to the panchayat elections in West Bengal, 40 people were killed in poll-related violence. This is not an exception; an analysis of past data shows that political violence and related deaths peaked during and around all the recent polls in West Bengal. Moreover, a comparison of States shows that West Bengal stands out in this regard. Only Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), a highly militarised region, recorded more such incidents in the recent past. Political violence peaked in West Bengal during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and related deaths peaked during the 2018 panchayat elections.
These conclusions are based on an analysis of data sourced from the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project’s conflict dataset. The database has a record of incidents of political violence in different States since 2016. It gets its data from local media and official sources. Its own local partners too record data. Political violence here includes instances of armed clashes, significant arrests, attacks, incidents of force/state intervention during demonstrations, property destruction, mob violence, and violent demonstrations. Incidents such as peaceful protests, including those staged by political parties, were ignored if no violence was recorded.
Map 1 | The map shows the number of incidents of political violence recorded between 2016 and July 7, 2023, across States.
