Bringing the bitter political rivalry with the Left to the national capital, the Trinamul on Wednesday held a dharna at the Jantar Mantar, where not only party MPs but also its ministers in the Central government participated and delivered speeches lashing out at the Left Front-led Bengal government. Later in the day, the party’s MPs called on
both the home minister and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to draw their attention to the continuing violence in the state allegedly unleashed by the CPI-M cadres.
Minister of state for health Dinesh Trivedi told reporters that there is “state-sponsored terrorism in Bengal and people are being killed mercilessly”. As for the Mr Bhattacharjee’s meeting with the PM and the home minister, Mr Trivedi remarked, “Sau chuhe kahkar billi Haj ko chali”.
The Bengal CM on his part claimed that CPI(M) cadres were armed only to protect themselves from the Maoists. He further said, “Thousands of CPI(M) workers and their families were evicted by Maoists from their hearths and homes. Now they have gone back” while assuring that steps will be taken to disarm them.
Mr Bhattacharjee also said that he told the home minister “in no uncertain terms that the Trinamul must disassociate itself with the Maoists’’. The meeting took place weeks after the home minister and the chief minister exchanged strongly worded letters on the prevailing law and order situation in the state which is due to go to polls later this year.
The home minister shared with the CM information and intelligence available with the Central government and drew his attention to the Netai incident in which seven persons were killed allegedly by armed CPI(M) cadres on January 7. “I agree with the home minister that the recent incident in Netai village was very unfortunate. We will ensure that such incidents do not recur,” Mr Bhattacharjee said.
The two bitter political rivals also, once again, traded charges accusing each other of having links with the Maoists. While Mr Bhattacharjee accused the Trinamul of extending overt and covert support to the Maoists for political gains, the Trinamul delegation said that the CPI(Marxist) and the CPI(Maoist) are two sides of the same coin.
The Trinamul Congress has been describing the armed CPI(M) cadres as “harmads” which means pirates or looters. Asked about the use of the word “harmad” by Mr Chidambaram in a letter he wrote to him to which the CPI(M) had taken exception, the CM said that the word did not figure in his meeting with the home minister.
Mr Bhattacharjee accused the Trinamul of openly associating itself with the PCPA (Maoist frontal outfit) criticising the joint anti-Naxal operations launched by the Centre. “They are openly and directly associating with Maoists to foment trouble there. We have confirmed it from different sources, including those (Maoists leaders) who have been arrested,” he alleged.
Trinamul MP Sudip Bandopadhyay later countered Mr Bhattacharjee’s claims saying that ‘’Naxalbari is the baby of the CPI(M). “The Central government has concluded that there is a presence of harmads. The entire administration in Bengal is run by Alimuddin Street and not Writers’ Building. The home minister is fully aware of the situation and harmads should be dealt with boldly and firmly. It is no longer a state subject. When STs and minorities are hurt, it is no longer a state subject,” he said after meeting Mr Chidambaram.