<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Across Northern India, the BJP is synonymous with the so-called \u2018bulldozer action\u2019, where summary demolitions are carried out against political enemies. Demolition drives are often carried out, wherever BJP governments hold power, not solely against political rivals but against the shops and houses of the common people. Much of these demolition drives are aimed at clearing out entire city blocks for the purpose of redevelopment. Such drives have happened in Ayodhya, Prayagraj (former Allahabad), and the historic city of Varanasi.
Such actions had been seen with terror in Kolkata, a city which has been famous for being affordable, largely thanks to the widespread informal trade driven by hawkers and the presence of small scale businesses. These have now become the focus of the newly elected BJP government\u2019s ire, which seems hell bent on delivering \u2018bulldozer justice\u2019 to Kolkata.
The first signs of such actions were seen in the immediate aftermath of the electoral victory of the BJP, when meat shops in the New Market area were bulldozed by zealous BJP cadres. Now, the full weight of the systematic displacement seems to be brought to bear against the city and its small traders. The first target is hawkers on railway platforms, who have become the main target for removal, all done in the name of removing \u2018encroachments\u2019.
The actions have been widely condemned across the city\u2019s people, with hawkers gaining solidarity from the wider public, especially youth and students. The CPIM (Communist Party of India [Marxist]) and other left parties, particularly the CPIML (Communist Party of India [Marxist-Leninist]) have been at the forefront of the fight against evictions. No doubt, we stand in opposition against the eviction drives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is important to remember the context in which the eviction drives against hawkers and other \u2018encroachers\u2019 are taking place. The decline of industry in West Bengal went hand in hand with an overall decline in urban administration. This situation was worsened by the calamity that was the Bangladesh genocide, which forced ten million Bengalis to seek shelter in West Bengal. While most returned to Bangladesh, at least a million stayed back. Waves of refugees kept coming, owing to the famine that gripped the country shortly after independence.
A situation emerged where the employment crisis worsened, the pressure was especially acute in the cities of West Bengal, where industrial decline and political turmoil resulted in few avenues for the refugees to survive. The newly elected Left Front government in 1977 embarked on a strategy of solving the unemployment crisis in the quickest way possible, this required opening new avenues for informal work. The hawker trade mushroomed during this period.
The sudden spurt in urban population also created a housing crisis, which was not solved with any plan for low cost housing. Encroachments, slums, and refugee colonies continued as they were. Efforts to evict hawkers were first undertaken by the Left Front government in the 1990s, but this did not end the trade. The fundamental causes which gave rise to the demand for informal trade remained. Subsequent governments, particularly the TMC (Trinamool Congress), institutionalized the illegal sale of public footpaths and spaces, using them to extort hefty sums from the hawkers.
Hawkering in Kolkata especially, remains a lucrative business, generating up to $2 billion in revenue, managed by up to 200,000 hawkers throughout the city. For long, the governments simply sat on questions of rehabilitation, and resolving conflicts between hawkers on the one hand, pedestrian rights on the other, and the interest of shopkeepers, who often end up being in direct competition with hawkers. The BJP came out with an agenda of removing hawkers and encroachments altogether, the first target being railway stations.
The Indian railways are a target for privatization, while the service itself cannot be easily privatized, the stations and the spaces on them can. Railway station redevelopment has caught pace throughout the country, and with it avenues for BJP aligned crony companies to profit. Stations provide large spaces for retail trade which can be extremely lucrative. At the same time, the arbitrary demolition of illegal structures, without providing for alternate accommodations or compensation, clears the way for large scale redevelopment.
In BJP ruled states, the demolition of houses and neighbourhoods served both an economic and political purpose. The demolition of houses of dissidents acts as a political punishment. The large scale eviction and destruction of neighbourhoods in cities such as Ayodhya, Varanasi, and the ongoing eviction of slums in Mumbai fit the pattern for large scale redevelopment. Now the party is eyeing such redevelopment in West Bengal.
On the day after their victory, scattered demolition drives were undertaken in neighbourhoods around Central Kolkata, around new market, targeting meat shops. The message was not just economic, it was political and cultural. This aspect of the demolition drives became apparent as the days passed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Evictions so far:
Under the guise of a \u2018zero tolerance\u2019 policy for illegal constructions, the BJP has targeted the dwelling homes of people, the shops and workshops inhabited by informal workers and traders, rather than those who have benefitted the most from illegal constructions. The BJP follows a cult of action, in which no room is given to build consensus, the action comes first, and the consequences are dealt with later.
The first demolition drives took place in Muslim majority industrial areas like Tiljala, targeting illegally built houses. Resistance was spontaneous and large, forcing the state to back down after the first demolitions. Then came the demolition and eviction drives in railway stations. Several station across West Bengal were targeted, most prominent among them are the two busiest stations of Kolkata, Sealdah and Dum Dum station.
Hawker eviction drives, were met with immediate resistance and protest. Hundreds of hawkers and their dependent families mobilized together with CITU- (Centre of Indian Trade Unions) affiliated hawker unions, however the demolition drives continued apace. The climax of these eviction drives was without a doubt, the eviction drive at Jadavpur University station.
Jadavpur University has long been a bastion of progressive student politics, a power centre of leftist politics in West Bengal. Attacking Jadavpur was not merely an economic objective, it was a political battle. The BJP had to teach Jadavpur a lesson, and show that space for leftist politics would be diminished under their rule.
The eviction drives here saw spontaneous solidarity between the hawkers, students of Jadavpur, and the wider neighbourhood near the University. The hawkers for their part have long been part of the urban fabric of the city, and particularly in neighbourhoods like Jadavpur, present affordable services to students and residents alike. Their removal has been strongly objected by all quarters. Yet, the BJP seemed absolutely adamant in pushing through with the demolition drives.
Stalinist and Maoist organizations, particularly the CPIM and CPIML, stood at the forefront of the fight back against the eviction drives. Legal challenges were lodged before the High Court at Calcutta, while the battle on the streets continued with regular mobilizations and protest marches. The court battle resulted in a victory with the High Court putting a stay on eviction drives, but the authorities did not pay any heed to the court order. On the day before the reopening of the courts and hearing of the matter, bulldozers descended on Jadavpur with the police providing cover.
The confrontation was bloody and violent, several people were injured when the police began their charge against the protesters. The huts were destroyed, dozens of activists and students were taken into custody, including the leading figure of the protests Srijan Bhattacharya. The confrontation resulted in a pyrrhic victory for the BJP and its eviction drives. Though they had won through sheer force and caprice, they lost in the court which implemented a stay on evictions for a month.
This brought an important but momentary relief, and showed the BJP that opposition on the streets of Bengal was still strong enough to stall their plans, even if they have complete control over the legislative machinery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The eviction of hawkers and arbitrary bulldozing of houses has been met with shock and anger. Even those who are not on the left, view these actions with contempt. The BJP government for its part has said little in justification of its policies, it has relied in the eco-system of right wing bots and supporters on social media to defend the indefensible.
The typical supporter of the eviction drives rely on a few set arguments. First that the hawkers and squatters generally, are well off. Some have pointed to them having minor luxuries like smartphones or expensive wrist watches as proof of this. Barring some exceptional cases, even the wealthiest street vendors don\u2019t make more money than would fetch them a middle class income level. It is strange that the same people sit mum when billionaires cheat India\u2019s banking system of billions, they show their ire for hawkers who manage to afford some small luxuries. The truth is, that the hawker trade only emerged because of lack of formal employment, the limited scope for organized retail and the situation that emerged from the de-industrialization of West Bengal. The trade continues to flourish because the conditions that gave rise to it have not changed, and because there is demand for their cheap second hand goods. This reality is far removed from the fantasies of the BJP supporters.
Secondly, it is argued that hawkers should be removed for guaranteeing right of pedestrians on footpaths. Indian cities, especially older dense cities like Kolkata and Mumbai, were not designed for the car in mind. The emergence of affordable low cost passenger cars, and the Indian government\u2019s policy of incentivizing their purchase, resulted in crowded streets, where more and more space has been given over to ensure the flow of traffic, narrowing pedestrian spaces and walkable areas down to a minimum. Blaming hawkers alone for what is a failure of urban planning is simply ignorance. The hawkers and squatters have as much right to earn a living and to shelter as everyone else, pedestrian space is no excuse to evict them, and certainly not without adequate compensation.
Thirdly and finally, that hawkers and squatters were part of a political system of patronage that should rightfully be smashed. Some have even mocked the protests against evictions by citing this vague \u2018political patronage system\u2019. The reality is that an organized extortion racket did exist, aimed at exploiting hawkers and squatters throughout the city. That does not negate their right to make a livelihood, nor does it take away any legitimacy of their trade. When all these arguments fail, they resort to whataboutery, bringing up \u2018Operation Sunshine\u2019 which took place in the 1990s, the first large scale organized eviction drive against hawkers.
This was undertaken by the then Left Front government under the leadership of the CPIM. This is usually brought up to counter the CPIM\u2019s present position in defense against the eviction drives. The fact that they need to do this puts right wingers in an awkward position, the unabashed haters of the Left have to either concede that they were correct in their evictions, or they have to concede that evictions in themselves are wrong. Of course, it is without a doubt wrong to destroy the lives and livelihoods of thousands of people in the name of \u2018cleanliness\u2019 and urban renewal. It was wrong in 1995 and it is still wrong in 2026. At the very least, there was some effort to rehabilitate evicted hawkers in the 1990s, no such plan is in place today to compensate for loss of livelihood for those evicted today. The operation is designed chiefly to cause pain to the poor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The BJP\u2019s track record of destroying the informal economy is without question. Indian capital has built itself up on the exploitation of low wage, low productivity informal production, and the enrichment of big capital. This was already gaining pace during the Congress led UPA period, after 2014 it has brutally intensified, with the added pressure of capital intensive production cornering more investment.
Not long after they came to power, the BJP used its absolute majority to force through the Goods and Services Tax, this brought every goods and services under the ambit of taxation, effectively bringing informal and formal business under the same ambit. It wrecked the cost advantage that the informal sector enjoyed, and added new costs. As bad as this was, the impact was worsened by the 2016 demonetization which destroyed the savings and cash reserves of millions of traders. Combined together, these two actions accounted for the single largest act of organized destruction of informal retail.
In addition to the taxes, the shocks from demonetization, came the constant terror on small scale and informal retail from the urban renewal plans of the BJP. These projects often involved wholesale destructions of entire urban blocs, arbitrary slum demolitions, all for the benefit of big retail capital. West Bengal had been largely away from these developments, until now.
The hammer has come on West Bengal now, the most direct and brutal form of proletarianization has been the direct destruction of informal small scale trade. The clearances in railway stations in particular are aimed at clearing for subsequent redevelopment, it is the same for the large scale demolition of illegally built constructions around the fringes of the city.
The agenda of the BJP has faced a challenge from the leftist parties which are quickly becoming the main opposition in the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The former ruling party of West Bengal, the TMC, has now collapsed and splintered. Most members of the party has broken away into a rebel faction accounting for 58 Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) in the West Bengal assembly. Twenty MPs in the Lok Sabha have broken ranks with the main party and are now in support of the BJP. The party of Mamata Bannerji has broken ranks with her, today only a rump party exists in its place. For most of this period, when the BJP has unleashed terror on the people of the state, the party has mostly been protesting for its own existence. Each attempt by Mamata Banerjee to rally the public behind her has resulted in failure. Neither has she, nor has her party, been seen anywhere near the site of actual struggle in the railway stations, slums and ferries where evictions are being carried out.
The collapse of the TMC continues with news of defections and leaders resigning their posts being a daily occurrence. The party has liquidated all their front organizations, including youth wings, and trade unions, leaving the space open for the BJP to dominate. However, the opposition space in West Bengal is now a massive void.
The only other political force that has any organizational heft to fill this void, is the CPIM and the Left Front. The revival of the CPIM has not translated either in terms of votes or seats, but one cannot deny that this is the only party that is giving the BJP any fight at all. Neither can one deny, that the fight back itself, is lacking.
The limits of the CPIM\u2019s strategy was exposed by the success of the demolition drive at Jadavpur. After spirited street fights kept the demolition drive at bay, a stay was ordered by the High Court. This was a victory, but not a final one, it did not deter the government which seemed determined not only to carry out the demolition drive but do it violently. On the night of the 7th of June, a day before the High Court would reopen for regular sittings, the bulldozers descended on the shanties. The demolition went through, protesters were attacked by the police, many were injured and the dwelling spaces and shops were destroyed.
The action was a message, the BJP government will not care for any court order, nor will it wait. The slightest complacency would be enough to embolden the government to attack. Unlike the TMC which relied on the surreptitious use of lumpens, the BJP prefers to use the strong arm of law enforcement. This has become increasingly clear with the eviction drives.
As of now, eviction drives continue, as do the protests against it. While they have won in most places, it is clear that it won\u2019t have an easy time of it. The BJP cannot expect to get its way without a challenge. Plans if any to remove street vendors selling second hand books on College Street have been shelved, and the High Court has ordered that no eviction can be done without rehabilitation or compensation. Furthermore, there will be no evictions for a month.
If the BJP does manage to continue the evictions, this would be a pyrrhic victory, one that was achieved at the cost of much sympathy that it had gained while fighting the TMC.
In this first fight, the political fault lines of the state have become clear. The TMC continues to wither away to dust, leaving the opposition space to the Stalinist parties, which maintain some grassroots support and organization, not enough to dislodge the BJP but still challenge it on the streets. The evictions have also made it clear that the BJP\u2019s agenda is one of destruction. They seek to destroy the livelihoods of most of West Bengal\u2019s poor, they are steadily clearing the way for their oligarch friends to take over the state\u2019s economy, while crushing any opposition that stands in the way.
Protesting the evictions isn\u2019t limited to defending the rights and livelihoods of the hawkers and squatters, but a political fight against the BJP and its larger agenda.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
DOWN WITH BULLDOZER JUSTICE! DOWN WITH BJP !
NO EVICTION WITHOUT COMPENSATION!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In this first fight, the political fault lines of the state have become clear. The TMC continues to wither away to dust, leaving the opposition space to the Stalinist parties, which maintain some grassroots support and organization, not enough to dislodge the BJP but still challenge it on the streets. The evictions have also made it clear that the BJP\u2019s agenda is one of destruction. They seek to destroy the livelihoods of most of West Bengal\u2019s poor, they are steadily clearing the way for their oligarch friends to take over the state\u2019s economy, while crushing any opposition that stands in the way.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":76184,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"litci_post_political_author":"Mazdoor Inquilab","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[495],"tags":[6803,6743,6804,496,6806,6801],"class_list":["post-76183","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-india","tag-bengal","tag-bjp-2","tag-bulldozer","tag-india-2","tag-politics","tag-west-bengal"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/litci.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/bengal1.jpg?fit=1280%2C960&ssl=1","fimg_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/litci.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/bengal1.jpg?fit=1280%2C960&ssl=1","categories_names":["India"],"author_info":{"name":"Carlos S.","pic":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fdf3a2076204dbf848fa7838fc9e2787f3317262207b35e333f31316e39fce9c?s=96&d=mm&r=g"},"political_author":"Mazdoor Inquilab","tagline":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/litci.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76183","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/litci.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/litci.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/litci.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/litci.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76183"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/litci.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76183\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":76185,"href":"https:\/\/litci.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76183\/revisions\/76185"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/litci.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/76184"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/litci.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76183"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/litci.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76183"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/litci.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76183"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}