Hitting back at union home minister P. Chidambaram for describing West Bengal as the worst governed state, chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on Friday said he did not need advice from the minister who should first carry out his own responsibilities properly.
"I have said earlier that the doctor should cure his own ailment first. What has he done in Kashmir? Let him perform his own duties and responsibilities properly," Bhattacharjee told reporters when asked to react to Chidambaram's comments late last month during election campaign in the state.
Drawing an appalling picture of the state's law and order situation, Chidambaram April 25 said: "It is among the poorest governed state in the country. Our immediate concern is law and order." Chidambaram also referred to the carnage in Netai village of West Midnapore district Jan 7 where nine people, including four women, were killed and 28 others were injured in clashes triggered by assailants allegedly backed by the ruling Marxists.
"For the last two to four months, I have repeatedly informed the state chief minister and his colleagues about the deteriorating law and order. He was in denial but the bubble burst after Netai happened. The Netai incident provided the proof of violence by armed cadres of CPI-M (Communist Party of India-Marxist)," the Union minister had said. Bhattacharjee, however, posed a counter question. "What is he doing in other Maoist states? I don't need his advice."