Angry CPM plans offensive over ‘leaked’ MHA letter
Left red-faced by Union home minister P. Chidambaram’s strongly-worded letter, the Left Front government in West Bengal has decided to go on the offensive against the Centre. Mr Bhattacharjee’s reply, which he may send on Tuesday, is likely to be combative. Mr Bhattacharjee’s confrontation with Mr Chidambaram would be a significant development because the two shared a good rapport; Mr Bhattacharjee had always lauded Mr Chidambaram’s tough stand against the Maoists.
The media received a copy of the letter, dated December 21, on Friday. The state government, however, denied it had received any such letter till Sunday. The whereabouts of the letter were shrouded in mystery till Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday confirmed that Mr Chidambaram had indeed sent such a letter.
Government sources on Monday clarified that the letter had been dispatched by “Speed Post” and may have been delayed because of the festive season. Normally, letters dispatched by Union ministers to state chief ministers are faxed and then sent via Speed Post. In this case, it is believed that the letter, marked “secret”, had been sent only via Speed Post, Bengal government officials said.
On Monday, CPI(M) state secretary Biman Bose addressed the media at a hurriedly-convened news conference. Attacking the Centre, Mr Bose said the manner in which the Union home minister’s letter was leaked to the media even before it reached the CM’s table was “obnoxious”. Saying that the letter arrived at 11 am Monday, Mr Bose added: “The letter is politically motivated and has obviously has been written to serve the Trinamul Congress’ political agenda. The Centre should not have acted in such a blatantly partisan manner.”
The CPI(M) bosses took strong exception to the use of words “Harmad vahini”, a term used by Trinamul supremo Mamata Banerjee to describe armed CPI(M) cadres. Mr Bose accepted the existence of CPI(M) camps in Jangalmahal. “These camps house those party supporters whose houses have been damaged or burnt down. Those party cadre who had to flee their villages due to the unleashed terror have been housed in these temporary shelters, which are mostly inside party offices,” Mr Bose said.
The CPI(M) state secretary also questioned the number of Trinamul Congress workers cited as killed in Mr Chidambaram’s letter. “According to the letter 96 Trinamul Congress workers are supposed to have been killed. We demand the list of their names and addresses,” Mr Bose said, adding that since the Lok Sabha elections till December 26 337 CPI(M) cadres had been killed and the party had a complete list of the slain cadres.
Mr Chidambaram has in his letter asked Mr Bhattacharjee to ensure that armed party cadres were “immediately disarmed and immobilised”.
Senior government officials here on Monday said there will be no withdrawal of Central forces engaged in anti-Naxal operations in the Marxist bastion.
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