Row over Army drill in WB flares up again; Parrikar, Mamata

The political row over the recent Army drill at toll plazas in West Bengal flared up again today with Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar dashing off a stinging letter to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, saying her allegations can "adversely" impact the morale of the force and the TMC chief hitting back over his "wild assertion".
In the two-page letter, Parrikar told her that he was "deeply pained" over the allegations regarding the deployment of the army personnel and that the same was not expected from a person of her standing and experience in public life.
Parrikar said that while political parties and politicians may have the luxury of making "wild and unsubstantiated allegations against each other", one needs to be extremely careful while referring to the armed forces.

"Your allegations in this regard run the risk of adversely impacting the morale of the country's armed forces and the same were not expected from a person of your standing and experience in public life," the Minister said.
Banerjee, who is a strident opponent of the Centre's demonetization move, had accused it of deploying the army at toll plazas in West Bengal without informing the state government and described it as "unprecedented" and "a very serious situation worse than Emergency".
The Trinamool Congress stayed put in her office in Kolkata overnight in protest against the deployment and had asked whether it was an "army coup".

Terming it as "avoidable controversy" over the exercise carried out by the Eastern Command in West Bengal and other states under the jurisdiction to collect information about the movement of heavy vehicles at toll gates, Parrikar, in his letter dated December 8, said it is carried out by all formations of the army all across the country for many years.

He said the exercises are held as per the dates convenient to the army in consultation with agencies of the state government.
"I have been deeply pained by your allegations as reported in the media. If only you had enquired with the agencies concerned of the state government, you would have come to know of the extensive correspondence between the Army and the state agencies including the joint inspection of sites carried out by them," Parrikar said.

Hitting back, Banerjee said, "I take strong exception to your wild assertion that my articulation of the rights of the state government vis-a-vis Army deployment without clearance has impacted the morale of the armed forces.
"Your general observations about the political parties and politicians to have the luxury of making wild and unsubstantiated allegations may be apt for your party, but we do not belong to that group," she said in a two-page reply.
The chief minister also maintained that the Ministry of Defence has not taken prior permission of the state government for large deployment of Army personnel in civilian areas.

Parrikar said the army authorities were forced to put the record straight in the matter by presenting evidence of their communication with the state agencies concerned including rescheduling of the data collection operations on their response.
TMC MP Derek O' Brien charged the Centre with playing politics on the issue. "Look who is playing politics. The letter has not even reached the chief minister of Bengal and it has already been leaked in the media in Delhi.