West Bengal Guv summons Chief Secretary over violence, decries 'drifting of governance'

In a key development, West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar summoned the state Chief Secretary before 7 pm on Saturday over the post-poll violence. This comes after the Additional Chief Secretary (Home) failed to give Dhankhar the status report on the law and order situation. Moreover, the Governor was upset at not being forwarded the reports of the DGP and the Kolkata Police Commissioner. 

Writing on Twitter, he added, "Such drifting of governance @MamataOfficial from constitutional prescriptions is unfortunate and cannot be overlooked. While the State passes through most severe post-poll violence, there is just NO input to the constitutional head. This is least expected."

After Mamata Banerjee took oath as the CM on Wednesday, Dhankhar had advised her, "Our first priority is we must bring an end to this senseless violence, horrendous violence that has affected society at large. Post-poll violence if it is retributive is antithetical to democracy. I have every hope that the Chief Minister on an urgent basis will take all steps to restore the rule of law."

Post-poll violence in West Bengal

BJP, Congress, CPI(M), TMC and ISF have been up in arms over the violence which has reportedly claimed 16 lives in the last two days. While the MHA sought a detailed report from the state government regarding the "post-election violence targeting opposition political workers in the state" and sent a 4-member team there, PM Modi called up Dhankhar and expressed his anguish at the law and order situation. Though TMC attributed the deaths to "intra-BJP fights", Banerjee requested everyone to remain peaceful. Addressing a press conference on Tuesday, BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra opined that such scenes have never been witnessed in the country's electoral history.

Alleging that "Bengal is burning", he reckoned that TMC should show graciousness after winning the election. He extended solidarity with BJP workers and the 2.28 crore people who have voted for the party in the 2021 Assembly election. Patra opined, "2.28 crore Bengalis voted for BJP. Is it not their democratic right to vote for a political party of their choice? Will Mamata-TMC govt take care of them? Do they have no democratic right?" Meanwhile, BJP president JP Nadda visited WB for two days where he met the families of the affected party workers in Pratapnagar, Beliaghata, North 24 Parganas and Gopalpur.

On May 6, WB CM Mamata Banerjee announced a compensation of Rs.2 lakh each to the kin of the deceased persons. Furthermore, she revealed that barring one person who was from Sanjukta Morcha, the other 15 individuals were associated with TMC and BJP. In another development, the Constitution Bench of the Calcutta High Court directed the Advocate General to file an affidavit on the law and order situation in West Bengal.