CPI(M) urges Centre not to 'reveal' anti-Maoist operations to Mamata

Banerjee has vehemently denied any link with Maoists.

In a bid to create a rift between the Congress and its biggest ally Trinamool Congress (TC), the top CPI(M) leadership has appealed to Union Home Minister P Chidambaram “not to divulge” operation plans against Naxals or Maoists to Railway Minister and TC chief Mamata Banerjee.

In a serious allegation against Banerjee, the CPI(M) leadership has complained to Chidambaram that Banerjee has “leaked” the Centre’s plan to the Maoists about the imminent crackdown operations triggering the recent violence in Lalgarh area.

Banerjee has vehemently denied any link with Maoists, even as the Left Front government in West Bengal and the CPI(M) have been accusing her of having nexus with Maoists. Chidambaram, too, has not given any assurance to the erstwhile partners of the Congress that Banerjee will be kept in dark about government plans on the basis of their wish. When this issue was repeated in front of the home minister, the ministry also pointed out that Maoists have their moles in the West Bengal police and the state government should plug those loopholes.

During the recent crackdown against the Maoists in Lalgarh, CPI(M) politburo member Sitaram Yechury met Chidambaram at least twice to discuss the situation.

The CPI(M) believes Banerjee has strong links with pro-Maoist elements and insurgents in Bengal and is taking their help to corner its organisation in rural Bengal.

After meeting Chidambaram, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee also said: “The Trinamool Congress has connections with the People’s Committee against Police Atrocities (PCPA). Its leader Chhatradhar Mahato is a TC member.” PCPA is considered as an over-ground organisation of the Maoists.

Banerjee, however, denied these charges and pointed out that Mahato has been expelled from the party two years ago.

Banerjee is reportedly fuming over “Centre’s help” to the Left Front government in Lalgarh. She feels that the CPI(M) is taking the help of the central forces to reinstate its cadres and torturing the innocent villagers in Lalgarh. “We will tell the Centre about Lalgarh’s real problems only if we are asked. We won’t speak on our own and will hold our heads high,” Banerjee said in Kolkata last Saturday.

While the CPI(M) is harping on her nexus with Maoists, Banerjee’s counter charge is that the Lalgarh operation is “stage-managed” by Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee. She even called Bhattacharjee “the biggest Maoist of the country!” She also claimed that the PCPA had called a poll boycott in the Jhargram Lok Sabha seat and that helped the CPI(M) win the seat.

Banerjee has also demanded that districts like Purulia, West Midnapore and Bankura should be declared as disturbed areas. She demanded a Lalgarh-like joint operation in Keshpur and Garbeta to seize CPI(M)’s illegal arms.

While Banerjee has expressed her unhappiness over the Lalgarh operations, Yechury met Chidambaram and thanked him for helping the state.

“The Prime Minister has termed the Naxals menace as the biggest threat to internal security. Whatever the Centre is doing is based on information it is privy to. The Centre and the state should act in unison to tackle the Maoist problem,” Yechury told reporters after his meeting on Monday.