WB Guv meets Modi, Shah; Opposition fears Prez rule

Amid rising tension between Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the Centre over post-poll violence in West Bengal, Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah. The Opposition parties fear that the BJP is preparing the ground to impose President's rule in the state.

Tripathi's meeting with Modi and Shah, the first after the Lok Sabha elections, came a day after the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) issued a terse advisory, putting the blame on the Mamata administration for the violence in the state. It "appears to be a failure" on the part of the law enforcement machinery of the state, the advisory said.

Tripathi insisted that there were no discussions about imposing President's rule during his meetings but said he apprised the leadership about the situation in West Bengal, which he "cannot disclose".

BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya too said it was not demanding President's rule in the state but will "defy" the state government's ban on its political programmes. “We want to exercise our democratic rights but the state government has used its powers to target our leaders and workers. We will defy its clampdown on us. It is our right," he said.

However, Opposition parties, including the Trinamool Congress (TMC), apprehend that the Centre is preparing grounds for imposing President's rule by dismissing the government and then hold Assembly elections.

In a letter to the MHA, the TMC objected to the advisory and said, "We have every reason to believe that this is an evil ploy to grab power in the states run by parties politically opposed to the BJP. Moreover, this is a deep-rooted conspiracy and fame plan to malign the state government and capture the Bengal administration through undemocratic, unethical and unconstitutional means."

The CPM, Trinamool's arch-rival, said the law and order situation in West Bengal is bad but President's Rule should not be imposed in the state, as the Left party is against the use of Article 356 of the Constitution.

"In principle, we have always been against the President's rule. The law and order situation in Bengal is bad but it does not mean that President's rule is imposed in the state," CPM General Secretary Sitaram Yechury said.

Opposition sources said it appears that the BJP's plan is to dismiss the state government while riding on the support the saffron party has got from the Lok Sabha results. The BJP, they said, appears to be in a rush to consolidate its position by conducting Assembly elections when the state is in President's Rule, which will be an added advantage to it.

"There has been an anti-Trinamool Congress mood during Lok Sabha elections. It was evident during the voting. Even we underestimated the hatred against them. After the local body elections, it has increased. The TMC targeted everybody. Lot of them voted for the BJP as they felt only the saffron party could defeat the Trinamool," a senior CPM leader told DH.