TMC, BJP meet Governor, accuse each other

Kolkata, Jan 4 (IANS) A day after the clashes between the Trinamool Congress and BJP workers in the city took an ugly turn, both parties on Wednesday met West Bengal Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi to lodge a complaint against each other.

The state's ruling Trinamool Congress accused the Narendra Modi government of trying to break the federal structure, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came up with a long list of the violence perpretated against them by the Trinamool workers, alleging "complete collapse of the law and order machinery" in the state.

The Trinamool representatives, comprising state ministers and MLAs, complained about the deployment of central forces without the state's consent and charged the BJP leaders with "trying to influence the office of the Governor".

"We have complained to the Governor about attempts to break the federal structure. Without consulting the state, the CRPF was deployed outside the state BJP office on Tuesday. This is an assault on federalism," Trinamool leader Partha Chatterjee said.

"It is no secret that a section of BJP leaders is trying to influence the office of Governor," he said after meeting the Governor here.

Chatterjee also demanded the arrest of BJP leader and union minister Babul Supriyo for his alleged involvement in the ponzi scam, saying that Trinamool's voice of protest against demonetisation cannot be suppressed by "fear tactics".

"Why leaders of other parties, like Babul Supriyo, who are associated with chit funds, should not be arrested," Chatterjee questioned, adding that conspiracies are being hatched to malign the party.

A BJP delegation led by its state President Dilip Ghosh also met the Governor alleging an "unprecedented attack" on their party office by the Trinamool activists on Tuesday and complete collapse of the law and order machinery in the state.

"This kind of violence towards a political party is unprecedented in Bengal. Naturally, there has been a lot of criticism of Trinamool's activity by every section of the society," Ghosh said.

"We are really concerned about the collapse of law and order in the state, so we approached the honourable Governor and requested him to present the actual picture of the state to the central government," he said.

Ghosh further said: "We have requested the Governor to send a report on the state to the Centre in accordance with Article 356(1)(A) of the Indian Constitution."

"We are still not demanding President's Rule, but the situation in the state is moving that way. We want the central government to intervene and salvage the situation before it worsens further," Ghosh said.