West Bengal Governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi on Tuesday had a 45-minute-long meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh after the CPI(M) accused him of being partisan following his remarks on post-poll violence.
Gandhi told reporters after the meeting, “We talked about the importance of all
political entities and the need for everyone in public life to shun violence and follow the path of peace.”
When asked whether he was interested in continuing as the governor, Gandhi said, “That is not for me to handle.” His term ends in December.
The relations between Gandhi and the Left Front turned sour when the governor criticised the violence in Nandigram in East Midnapore district, about 70 km southwest of Kolkata.
On March 14, 2007, the police fired on villagers resisting land acquisition for setting up a special economic zone, 14 villagers.
Last week, Gandhi again criticised the state government on political violence after the Left parties lost ground in the Lok Sabha elections this year. He said, West Bengal was witnessing a “veritable tandava (dance of destruction) of political violence”.
On Sunday, the CPI(M) called Gandhi “partial” although he had stressed his “neutrality” in a recent letter to Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya.