Bengal BJP claims collapse of law, order, demands Mamata's ouster

Stating that entire West Bengal was in unrest, state BJP chief Dilip Ghosh on Wednesday demanded Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's resignation and urged the Centre to immediately impose President's rule.

"Starting from the hills in the north to the Bay of Bengal, the entire state is burning. Incidents of communal tension are frequently occurring in various parts of the state," Ghosh told reporters here.

"We demand Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee should resign from her post as soon as possible by taking the responsibility for a total collapse in law and order situation in Bengal," he said.

"We would also appeal to the central government to impose President's rule in the state so that whatever is left till now can be saved," he added.

Terming Banerjee's allegations against state Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi as "baseless and unfortunate", Ghosh said such comments by the Chief Minister are against constitutional propriety.

"Her comments about the Governor are baseless and beyond her jurisdiction. This is the first time a spat between a Chief Minister and a Governor has come out into the open like this. This is unfortunate and strictly against the constitutional norms," he said.

Describing the Trinamool Congress-run state government as "inefficient", Ghosh accused it of not taking proper action to stop the communal violence in North 24-Parganas district's Baduria.

"This government has failed to deliver in the sectors like health, education, industrialisation or administration. We think they are not efficient enough to govern the state," he claimed.

"The Chief Minister is saying that police are monitoring the issue but the video evidence shows that they are playing the role of silent spectators there. Why would this happen," he asked.

The BJP leader alleged that the state government did not keep the Centre informed about the recent clashes in Baduria and is not allowing the BSF personnel's march in the violence-striken areas.

"They are making the BSF sit at the local police outposts and not letting them function properly," he said.

Ghosh said the BJP would organise protest demonstrations throughout the state on July 6 and 'gherao' (lay siege to) the police stations and district magistrate's office.

Communal violence broke out in West Bengal's North 24-Parganas district on Tuesday following a Facebook post, triggering arson attacks on vehicles.

The Left Front too has expressed concern over the rising communal tension in parts of West Bengal and on Tuesday urged the Banerjee government to organise district level all-party meetings and deploy paramilitary forces or the army to restore an environment of peace and harmony.

--IANS

mgr/ssp/vgu/vt