The Mamata Banerjee government has again refused to send officials to Delhi. (Archive)
New Delhi:
In an escalation of Bengal’s dispute with the center over an attack on the BJP chief’s convoy last week, two senior state officials have been summoned to Delhi for the second time. The Mamata Banerjee government has again refused to send them, seeking a video meeting rather than citing Covid.
The Union Home Secretary wrote to the Bengal government last night, asking the Chief Secretary of State and the Chief of Police to attend a meeting at 5.30pm today. In response, the state government has suggested video conferencing due to the pandemic.
The center has not yet responded.
Bengal had refused to send the officials when they were summoned last week for a meeting with the interior minister on the law and order situation in the state after the convoy of BJP president JP Nadda was attacked. in a place about 60 km from Calcutta.
A day later, the Interior Ministry wrote to Bengal asking him to fire three officers from the Indian Police Service (IPS) who were to report to the central delegation.
The three officers, Bholanath Pandey, Rajeev Mishra and Praveen Kumar Tripathi, were reportedly in charge of security details when Nadda’s convoy was attacked by supporters of the Trinamool Congress with stones and sticks. The BJP said its leaders were injured in the attack and cars were damaged when a mob threw stones at them.
The Bengal government responded that the officers cannot be saved.
Yesterday, the center wrote again requesting the transfer of the three agents.
An angry Mamata Banerjee called it a brazen attempt to control her state by proxy before next year’s election. “We would not allow this blatant attempt by the center to control the state machinery by proxy! West Bengal will not cower in the face of expansionist and anti-democratic forces,” he tweeted.
He said the government’s order of central delegation for the three serving IPS officers despite objection from the state was “a colorful exercise of power and flagrant abuse” of the rules.
“This act is nothing more than a deliberate attempt to invade the jurisdiction of the state and demoralize the officers in service in West Bengal. This move, particularly before the elections, goes against the basic principles of the federal structure. It is unconstitutional and completely unacceptable, “he wrote.
This morning, Ms. Banerjee’s Delhi counterpart, Arvind Kejriwal, spoke out in support. “I condemn the flagrant interference of the Center in the Bengal administration. Invasion of the rights of the states by trying to transfer police officers to the Center just before the elections, is an assault on federalism and an attempt at destabilization,” published the Chief Minister from Delhi.
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