The Union Home Ministry has summoned Bengal's chief secretary and police chief on December 14 for an explanation on the law and order situation in the state, a move that follows Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar's report on the attack on BJP president J P Nadda's convoy, officials said on Friday.
Dhankhar, who alleged at a press conference in Calcutta that violators of law in Bengal have the protection of police and administration and any resistance by the opposition is quelled, was asked to submit a report after Nadda's convoy was attacked with stones and bricks in Calcutta's Diamond Harbour on Thursday.
Bengal's two top officials, Chief Secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay and Director General of Police Virendra, are expected to be asked to explain the law and order situation in the state as well as steps taken to prevent political violence and other crimes, officials said.
The Home Ministry is yet to receive a report from the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress government on the "serious security lapses" during Nadda's visit to the state, they said.
The governor's report following the violence in Diamond Harbour, the Lok Sabha constituency of Banerjee's nephew Abhishek, gives a detailed analysis of the law and order situation in Bengal and the state government's response to political violence and other crimes, the officials said.
In Calcutta, the governor slammed the state government over the deteriorating law and order situation and said the chief minister must desist from repeated remarks calling the BJP a party of outsiders. Such statements, he said, would weaken the national fabric.
"I have sent my report to the Central government the contents cannot be shared on account of propriety," Dhankhar told reporters at the press conference in Raj Bhawan.
"The governor is not a post office...he will not fiddle around in Raj Bhawan when human rights are being violated," he said. "The governor will vindicate his oath, come what may," he asserted.
Dhankhar also alleged that the "non-responsive" stance of the chief minister towards the Raj Bhawan is an indication that governance is not in accordance with the Constitution.
Describing Banerjee's comments on the attack on Nadda's convoy as "most unfortunate", he said, "I take very serious note of the statement that emanated from the honourable chief minister. How can a responsible chief minister, believing in rule of law...Constitution, believing in Bengali culture, talk the way she did."
Banerjee had mockingly distorted Nadda's name at a rally in Kolkata on Thursday and termed the attack on his convoy a "staged act".
Cars of several party leaders, including that of BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya and Bengal BJP chief Dilip Ghosh which were part of the convoy, were also damaged in the attack.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah tweeted that "Bengal has descended into an era of tyranny, anarchy and darkness under the Trinamool rule... The manner in which political violence has been institutionalised and brought to the extreme in Bengal under TMC rule is sad and worrying".
TMC slams MHA for issuing summons
The ruling TMC in Bengal on Friday hit out at the union home ministry for summoning the state chief secretary and director general of police for the attack on BJP national president J P Nadda's convoy and accused the saffron party of trying to create a situation where the central government can interfere in matters related to the states.
Senior TMC MPs Saugata Roy and Kalyan Banerjee alleged that Nadda's convoy had "convicted criminals" and goons who carried weapons with the malafide intention to instigate violence.
"What the central government is doing by sending a letter (seeking report) from the state government is unconstitutional. The MHA summoning the chief secretary and DGP is unacceptable. The BJP and the central government is trying to create a situation where they can interfere with the federal structure," Bandopadhyay said at a press conference here.
The provocative speeches by BJP state president Dilip Ghosh are leading to a vicious situation, he said and claimed that Nadda was accompanied by "convicted criminal and armed men of BJP.