| |
|---|
News Desk: Mamata Banerjee today blasted the centre for ordering three top officers out of Bengal, calling it a brazen attempt to control her state by proxy. In tweets, the West Bengal Chief Minister called said the centre’s move, ahead of elections due next year, was against the basic tenets of a federal structure.
The three Indian Police Service (IPS) officers were asked to report for central deputation a day after an attack on BJP president JP Nadda’s convoy near Kolkata last week.
After Bengal refused to send them, the Union Home Ministry today sent another letter asking the Mamata Banerjee government to relieve the three officers at the earliest.
“The government’s order of central deputation for the three serving IPS officers of West Bengal despite the state’s objection is a colourable exercise of power and blatant misuse of emergency provision of IPS Cadre Rule 1954,” the furious Chief Minister tweeted.
“This act is nothing but a deliberate attempt to encroach upon State’s jurisdiction and demoralize the serving officers in West Bengal. This move, particularly before the elections is against the basic tenets of the federal structure. It’s unconstitutional and completely unacceptable,” she wrote.
“We wouldn’t allow this brazen attempt by the centre to control the state machinery by proxy! West Bengal is not going to cow down in front of expansionist and undemocratic forces,” the Chief Minister railed.
The Home Ministry had called the three officers, Bholanath Pandey, Rajeev Mishra and Praveen Kumar Tripathi, to Delhi on central deputation after the BJP chief’s convoy was targeted near Kolkata on Thursday, allegedly by supporters of the state’s ruling Trinamool Congress. These officers were allegedly in charge of security details when the attack took place. The BJP said its leaders were injured in the attack and cars were damaged when rocks were hurled at them by a mob.
The Bengal government wrote back that the officers can’t be spared. Mamata Banerjee’s tweets today made it clear that the impasse stays.
Earlier, the centre had summoned Bengal’s Chief Secretary and Director General of Police (DGP) over the law and order situation in the state. The Bengal government said the convoy attack was being investigated and the officers would not attend the meeting.
