Why is Bengal in tatters? Read full report
West Bengal is virtually on the boil, thanks to a bloody tussle between the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the resurgent BJP over the political turf, clearly in view of the next Assembly elections slated two years from now.
Over the past few months, the state has witnessed umpteen incidents of political violence and killings as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been making desperate attempts to expand its base while the Trinamool led by Mamata Banerjee has been resolutely resisting it.
The developments have reached such a pass that Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi on Monday reached New Delhi and apprised Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah about the situation in West Bengal.
The Governor's meetings with the Prime Minister and the Home Minister came amidst talks in the BJP, which is ruling at the Centre, about the scope for imposing President's Rule in the state.
Mamata-Modi face-off
Mamata Banerjee has been vocal about her criticism of the Prime Minister. Throughout the election campaign, Mamata was at loggerheads with PM Modi.
Even after Modi won, she refused to back down. She, in fact, accused the BJP of winning the Lok Sabha polls by misusing muscle, money and government power. Further, she demanded paper ballots that were in use prior to electronic voting machines (EVMs) to "save democracy".
More so, Mamata refused to attend PM Modi’s swearing-in ceremony because he had invited the families of all the BJP workers who died in Bengal.
On Monday, Mamata said that BJP was spreading rumors of violence in West Bengal in a conspiracy to topple her government.
"There is no point sending me behind bars. If the BJP thinks it can stop me from opposing them by shutting my mouth and plotting a conspiracy to topple my government, it must know an injured tiger is more dangerous than a dead one," Banerjee said after a review meeting.
She alleged that her Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders have been threatened in the name of Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
The TMC chief said her government in the state was elected by the people and the next Assembly elections would be conducted after two years as per schedule.
"Our state is the best. Our performance was the best at the all India level. Rumours about violence in West Bengal have been spread through the social media to defame Bengal. There were two-three post poll incidents due to the BJP," she said at the state Secretariat, Nabanna.
Will President's rule be imposed in West Bengal?
Governor of West Bengal, Keshari Nath Tripathi, met with PM Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah amid continuous violence in West Bengal and echos of President’s rule.
Tripathi stated that at the moment President’s rule was not on the cards however not ruling the possibility out if the situation worsens. According to sources, Prime Minister Narendra Modi too was against the imposition of President's rule in Bengal.
"I have met the Prime Minister and the Home Minister. It was a courtesy call. I informed them about the general situation in the state," Tripathi told the reporters after the meetings.
The Governor's meetings with Modi and Shah came a day after the Ministry of Home Affairs sent a strongly worded advisory to the West Bengal government for its "complete failure" to control the unabated post-poll violence in the state. The MHA had expressed strong concerns over the tense situation in the state.
Also Read: Bengal governor meets PM Modi, Amit Shah amid Bengal violence
