The Indian Army’s Eastern Command has sought the intervention of West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose following Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s allegation that a senior Army officer was operating from Fort William and working on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls at the behest of the BJP.
According to a senior official at the Lok Bhavan, two Army generals from Fort William, the Eastern Command headquarters, met Governor Bose last week and submitted a communication objecting to Banerjee’s claims.
While details of the meeting were not immediately available, the Lok Bhavan official said Bose took serious note of the matter and brought it to the attention of the competent authorities at the Centre.
“The army officers are understood to have spoken to the Governor and requested his intervention in the matter. The Army is peeved with the chief minister’s recent remarks suggesting that a commandant of the forces was working for the BJP while remaining posted at Fort William,” the official told PTI.
On January 13, without disclosing the identity of the officer concerned, Banerjee alleged that an Army personnel was using the Fort William command base to carry out political activities in connection with the controversial SIR of electoral rolls in the state.
"I have information that a commandant at Fort William is working on SIR to lend support to the BJP. He is sitting there and doing the work of the BJP party office. I request them with folded hands to desist from such activities," Banerjee had said while addressing a press conference from the state secretariat, Nabanna.
Following last week’s meeting, the Governor is understood to have approached the Defence Ministry and conveyed the seriousness of the issue, the official said.
"Let me first verify for myself what she said. If this violates any constitutional propriety, I will certainly intervene," Bose had said earlier when asked to respond to Banerjee’s remarks.
A senior official at Fort William later confirmed that the meeting with the Governor had taken place.
“Two of our officers met the honourable governor recently regarding the comments made by the honourable chief minister of West Bengal. They discussed the issue with the honourable governor, who assured them that he would look into the matter,” the official said.
Banerjee’s comments came amid a charged political atmosphere in poll-bound Bengal, where the Election Commission’s ongoing SIR exercise has deepened fault lines between the ruling Trinamool Congress and the BJP, with the Left and Congress also weighing in.
Reacting sharply, BJP’s West Bengal unit president Samik Bhattacharya dismissed the chief minister’s allegation.
"Mamata Banerjee thinks she can say anything because she considers herself the President of West Bengal,” Bhattacharya said sarcastically.
"She doesn't consider West Bengal a state within India; she thinks of Bengal as a sovereign nation and herself its president," he added, terming the allegations “baseless”.
The CPI(M) also described the matter as serious, urging the chief minister to substantiate her claims.
Calling Banerjee's allegation a "serious issue", CPI(M) state secretary Md Salim said the chief minister must pursue the matter with the Defence Minister and establish the truth behind her statement.
"This is an absolutely serious issue. We must find out the truth behind this allegation," the Left leader said.
