Bengal CPI(M) opposes Governor's Article 356 mention, lends support to Trinamool

Kolkata, May 5 (IANS) The West Bengal government and the ruling Trinamool Congress have received unprecedented support from its arch-political rival CPI(M) on the issue of the Governor C.V. Ananda Bose suggesting the Union government consider provisions of Article 356 of the Indian Constitution in his report on the communal violence in Murshidabad district. 

The CPI(M) state secretary in West Bengal and the party’s politburo member, Md Salim, on Monday, issued a statement claiming that the transfer of power from the state government to that of the Governor through the President’s rule will not solve the problems of West Bengal.

“It is beyond doubt that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who is also the state home minister and the state police minister, failed miserably in maintaining the law & order situation in the state. But that does not mean that the problems will be solved if there is a transfer in power to the Governor through President’s Rule,” Salim said.

According to him, the people of West Bengal had bitter experiences in the past with President's Rule.

“The Pahalgam massacre could not be prevented through the bifurcation of the state and converting it to a Union Territory. The lives of people in Manipur are at stake despite a double-engine government prevailing there. In West Bengal, also, the elected state government will have to take responsibility for ensuring the safety of human lives. President’s Rule is not a solution. History proved that the problem with the President’s Rule is bigger,” Salim said in the statement.

Earlier, a number of Trinamool Congress leavers vehemently criticised the suggestion in the Governor’s report for the Union government to consider using provisions under Article 356. Trinamool Congress’ state general secretary in West Bengal described the report of the governor as biased and meant to serve the political agenda of the BJP.

West Bengal Parliamentary Affairs and Agriculture Minister Sovandeb Chattopadhyay claimed that the suggestions made in the Governor’s report were biased and made as per instructions of the Union government. “So it is natural that the Governor will say all negative things about West Bengal in his report,” Chattopadhyay said.

In his report, the Governor clearly said that the West Bengal government failed to curb the communal violence in the state despite successfully handling the Left-Wing Extremist (LWE) terror in the past.

In the report, the Governor also highlighted the shortcomings in the police infrastructure in West Bengal -- a shortage of manpower, which is also inadequately equipped, often prompting the deployment of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) in crisis-like situations like the one that erupted in Murshidabad.