How electoral politics in West Bengal weaponises local livelihoods: A systemic analysis of fish as electoral currency

Indigenous fishing communities in West Bengal, such as the Munda and Santhal tribes, have practiced sustainable aquaculture for generations, using traditional knowledge to manage fish stocks and water bodies. Their methods, such as rotational fishing and sacred grove conservation, are often dismissed in mainstream narratives that prioritise industrial models. The erasure of these practices in electoral discourse reflects a broader pattern of state and corporate co-optation of indigenous lands and resources.

West Bengal’s fishing industry has been shaped by colonial land revenue systems that displaced local fishers to make way for zamindari-controlled fisheries. Post-independence, state-led industrialisation projects like the Farakka Barrage disrupted river ecosystems, while neoliberal policies in the 1990s opened the sector to corporate aquaculture, marginalising small-scale fishers. The current electoral tactic echoes historical patterns of political patronage, where elites distribute resources to secure loyalty rather than address structural inequities.

Comparable electoral strategies are seen in Nigeria, where politicians distribute fish to coastal communities to secure votes, often exacerbating overfishing and environmental degradation. In Peru, political parties have used fish as a symbol of economic promise, but this has led to the collapse of anchovy stocks due to unregulated industrial fishing. These cases highlight how fish, as a cultural and economic symbol, becomes a tool for political manipulation rather than a means of sustainable livelihood.

Scientific studies show that West Bengal’s fish stocks are under severe pressure from climate change, pollution, and overfishing, with freshwater species like the hilsa facing population declines of up to 50% in the last decade. Research from the Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute indicates that small-scale fishers contribute 60% of the state’s fish production but receive only 20% of the revenue, reflecting systemic inequities. The electoral use of fish ignores these ecological and economic realities, treating fish as a disposable commodity rather than a finite resource.

In Bengali folk traditions, fish is not merely a food source but a symbol of fertility, prosperity, and resistance, as seen in the goddess Manasa’s association with snakes and fish. Poets like Rabindranath Tagore and activists like Mahasweta Devi have used fish as a metaphor for the struggles of the marginalised, critiquing state violence against fishing communities. The electoral commodification of fish strips it of this cultural and spiritual significance, reducing it to a transactional object.

If current trends continue, West Bengal’s fishing communities may face total collapse of local fish stocks by 2035, leading to mass migration to urban slums or conflict over dwindling resources. Scenario modelling by the World Bank suggests that without policy interventions, small-scale fishers could lose 30% of their income by 2040, exacerbating rural poverty. Alternative models, such as community-led fisheries management and agroecological aquaculture, could reverse these trends but require political will and structural reform.

The voices of women fishworkers, who constitute 40% of the sector’s labour force in West Bengal, are entirely absent from the electoral narrative, despite their role in processing and selling fish. Dalit fishers, who face caste-based discrimination in accessing markets and resources, are systematically excluded from political decision-making. Indigenous fishers, such as the Lodha and Sabar communities, have been criminalised under forest laws for practicing traditional fishing, further marginalising their perspectives in electoral discourse.