The gap between the Centre and the CPI(M)-led West Bengal government over the Maoist issue is widening.
On Monday, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee attacked Home Minister P. Chidambaram’s statement made the previous day in West Midnapore district’s Lalgarh, about 160 km west from here.
Chidambaram had said the buck stops at the CM’s table. “If it goes beyond that, it’s the failure of the administration.”
Bhattacharjee retorted, “Some people love to play with words. He should do his own duty. I am doing mine. Every body knows what the situation is in our country.”
Addressing a press conference at the state secretariat here, Bhattacharjee labelled Chidambaram’s choice of words as “slang”. “I have never found such words in the speeches of politicians.”
Chidambaram, who was in Tamil Nadu on Monday, said in an oblique reference to West Bengal that Maoism had assumed gigantic proportions, as it had not been dealt with properly in the last 10-12 years.
A senior home ministry official also replied to Bhattacharjee’s barb. He said Chidambaram’s Lalgarh visit was — besides reviewing the law and order situation — also aimed at sending a message to the state that it needed to do more for developing the region.
“The chief minister, for one, had not visited this region since November 2008,” the official said. In November 2008, the Maoists attacked Bhattacharjee’s motorcade in the area with a landmine blast.
{{/usCountry}}“The chief minister, for one, had not visited this region since November 2008,” the official said. In November 2008, the Maoists attacked Bhattacharjee’s motorcade in the area with a landmine blast.
{{/usCountry}}The Lalgarh situation worsened after that, as the state police launched a hunt for the attackers and allegedly tortured the local people.
Bhattacharjee also trained his gun on the Trinamool Congress, a UPA ally and the main opposition in the state, accusing the party of not co-operating with the state government.
The government has been complaining that the Trinamool Congress leaders never attended any all-party meetings on the strategies to check the influence of the Maoists.