The political storm which was kicked up by P. Chidambaram’s statement about the escalation in political violence in the state continued to rage on Friday as chief minister and Trinamul Congress chief Mamata Banerjee shot off a letter of protest to the Union home minister. Ms Banerjee has taken strong exception to Mr Chidambaram’s “culture of violence” remark. Mr Chidambaram had said that inter-party clashes were not a good sign for democracy. “In a true democracy, word should match word, policy should match policy, not bullet for bullet,” Mr Chidambaram told the closing ceremony of the 180th anniversary celebrations of the Calcutta Chamber of Commerce.
Sources said that Ms Banerjee told her close associates that Mr Chidambaram’s statement smacked of a Congress conspiracy against her government and party. “Where did he get these figures from? Not 82 but only five people have been killed and three of them were Trinamul Congress workers in political violence in 2012,” Ms Banerjee reportedly observed.
State panchayat minister Subrata Mukherjee said that as the Union home minister, Mr Chidamba-ram should have first got all the details before making such a comment. “He should not have made such a statement because law and order is a state subject. It cannot be discussed even in Parliament. He was clearly making a political statement,” Mr Mukherjee said. Reacting sharply to the Trinamul’s attack on Mr Chidambaram, state Congress spokesperson Abdul Mannan, without naming Ms Banerjee, said that she had painted herself into a corner by opposing Pranab Mukherjee’s candidature for the presidential election. “The party has become irrelevant in national politics. They were elated at what they thought was her master stroke against the Congress leadership on the presidential election but it failed within a few hours. They have lost importance in national politics and in frustration are attacking Mr Chidambaram,” he said.
He scoffed at state panchayat minister Subrata Mukherjee’s claim that Mr Chidambaram’s statement was an intimidation tactic to pressure the Trinamul Congress into voting for Mr Mukherjee in the presidential polls. “Where is the need to put pressure on them. Now a Central minister has made it clear that there is no need for their vote. Mr Mukherjee will win with over 65 per cent votes,” he added.