NEW DELHI / CALCUTTA: In what will be seen as an escalation of the BJP’s political confrontation with the Trinamool Congress, the Interior Ministry has summoned three IPS officers from the West Bengal cadre to the central delegation, as part of a exercise to establish responsibility for the alleged lapses that led to Thursday’s attack on Bjp chief JP Naddaconvoy near Kolkata.
The Center has sought the agreement of the West Bengal government on the matter before December 15, while awaiting the official response from the state. Trinamool MP Kalyan Banerjee wrote to Interior Secretary Ajay Bhalla on Saturday, saying: “His motive is very clear … he wants to create pressure on officers.”
The officers wanted by the Center for delegation are South Bengal IG Rajeev Mishra, DIG Presidential Rank Praveen Kumar Tripathi and Diamond Harbor SP Bholanath Pandey. The state government did not release a statement until Saturday night. However, officials in Kolkata said that the Center generally seeks the consent of the state before such a move.
“They are IPS officers from Bengal cadres. This is a unilateral decision made by the Center. Bengal, like the rest of the country, is fighting a pandemic. So, in this context, the state cannot relieve these officers immediately, ”said a senior state government official.
Chief Minister Mamata banerjee However, he has suggested that the stoning of Nadda’s convoy was the work of the BJP himself. The officers involved were directly in charge of Nadda’s security team at the time of the mob attack. While Nadda escaped unscathed because his car was bulletproof, other BJP leaders such as Kailash Vijayvarghiya were injured.
The action against IPS officers from the West Bengal cadre comes a day after the Interior Ministry summoned the Secretary-in-Chief of State and the DGP to New Delhi on December 14 for a discussion with Bhalla on the situation of the law and order in the state.
However, Bengal officials had requested that their presence be dispensed with, saying that the state government “was already taking the issue with the utmost seriousness.”
TMC deputy Saugata Roy insisted that the Center could request that the names of the officers be sent to the central delegation, and that the final authority to release them rests with the state. A letter from the Interior Ministry asked the Bengal government on Saturday to convey its agreement on the three officers, “otherwise it will be presumed that the state government has no objections to this.”
An Interior Ministry official told TOI that Rule 6 of the IPS cadre rules requires a cadre officer to be delegated for service under the central government or another state government or any government-owned company or association, with the concurrence of the state government. However, the same rule adds that in case of disagreement, the matter will be decided by the central government and the state government in question will give effect to such decision. Requests are generally resolved out of mutual consideration.
“This means that after December 15, even if the state does not agree with the Center’s decision to call the three officers in the central delegation, it will have no choice but to relieve them,” said one official.
On video: MHA orders the central delegation of 3 IPS officers after the attack of the convoy of the head of the BJP, JP Nadda
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