Kolkata, Oct 17 (IANS) The West Bengal government on Monday dismissed as "distorted" the media reports on clashes during the Durga Puja and Muharram, saying some stray incidents though occurred at three places due to "personal rivalry".
"A few media houses have given distorted reports. We are keeping a watch.... Law will take its own course," Chief Secretary Basudeb Banerjee told reporters at the state Secretariat Nabanna in neighbouring Howrah district.
"There were a few stray incidents at three places due to personal rivalry. We controlled the situation in each case by taking quick action," Banerjee said.
The top state bureaucrat said Durga Puja and Muharram had passed off peacefully in the state.
Meanwhile, the state Congress alleged that communal harmony was "at stake" in Bengal and blamed the ruling Trinamool Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party of playing a "fixed match" in fanning communal passions to further their political interests.
"Communal harmony was never under threat in Bengal since Independence when the state was ruled by the Congress and the Left Front. The situation we see now is unprecedented," said state Congress President Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury.
He said both the Trinamool and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh-Bharatiya Janata Party combine are trying to reap political dividends through communal polarisation.
"The Trinamool is returning a favour dished out to it by the BJP-RSS combine, which let it off the hook in the Saradha chit fund scam and the Narada sting operation case. So the Trinamool is allowing communal organisations to create trouble in the state."
