Bengal on boil after attack on Mamata, Mitra in Delhi

Left, Trinamool attack each other; Mamata says Capital unsafe and returns home; Bengal governor demands CPM apology

A day after West Bengal Chief minister Mamata Banerjee and Finance Minister Amit Mitra were heckled by activists of the student wing of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) in Delhi, political clashes erupted in various parts of the state, after the ruling Trinamool Congress went on a rampage in protest.

Although the leadership of both the TMC and CPI-M officially appealed to supporters to stay calm, violence was reported in almost every district of the state. Local news channels telecast visuals of ransacked party officies belonging to Left parties in Coochbehar, South 24 Paraganas, North 24 Paraganas and Birbhum. According to Left Front chairman Biman Bose, around 1,000 such party offices were vandalised.

Left cadres had retaliated, too, in many parts, with hundreds from both camps injured in the various clashes.

The two parties blamed each other. “There were some outside elements. The ruckus is being created by CPI (M) cadres. My party workers are holding peaceful protests in West Bengal. The CPM leaders are all hypocrites,” said Banerjee, describing the attack in Delhi as “planned”.

Earlier, she’d cut short her three-day visit to the national capital, saying she felt unwell; a meeting scheduled for today with the Union finance minister was also cancelled. She was admitted to a private hospital on her return from Delhi.

Before leaving, she declared “I will come back but Delhi is not a safe place.”

West Bengal Governor M K Narayanan today issued a statement condemning what had happened with Banerjee and Mitra, as  "a blot on India's cherished democratic values", adding this kind of attack on a democratically-elected chief minister, the finance minister and their cabinet colleagues is unprecedented in India's modern history.” In an unprecedented utterance for his post, he said it was “serious enough to warrant a public apology by the Polit Bureau of the CPI (M)”.

The  Polit Bureau, the CPI)M)’s apex body, issued a statement, condemning yesterday’s assault by members of the Students Federation of India (SFI) but also demanding a judical probe into the death of SFI leader Sudipto Gupto, that had led to its student wing's protest.

“In the course of this protest, an incident took place involving the Finance Minister, Amit Mitra. The CPI(M) has disapproved and condemned this incident. The party will look into how this has happened,” it said. “However, on the pretext of this incident, widespread violence has been unleashed against the CPI(M) and the Left in West Bengal. The Polit Bureau strongly condemns the attacks on the CPI(M) and Left parties offices all across West Bengal. Many party offices have been destroyed and scores of party cadres and leaders have been injured in these attacks by TMC men.”

When the Left’s Biman Bose was asked about the governor's demand, he said, "The governor is not aware about how the Polit Bureau functions."