Suvendu meets Shah, Nadda to discuss poll violence in Bengal | Kolkata - Hindustan Times
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Suvendu meets Shah, Nadda to discuss poll violence in Bengal

ByHT Correspondent, Hindustan Times, Kolkata
Jun 09, 2021 12:28 AM IST

Under Article 356 of the Constitution of India, in the event that a state government is unable to function according to Constitutional provisions, the Union government can take direct control of the state machinery.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator and leader of opposition in West Bengal assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, on Tuesday met Union home minister Amit Shah and party chief JP Nadda in Delhi to discuss post-poll violence in the eastern state.

Leader of opposition of the West Bengal legislative assembly and BJP MLA Suvendu Adhikari called on Home Minister Amit Shah.(PTI)
Leader of opposition of the West Bengal legislative assembly and BJP MLA Suvendu Adhikari called on Home Minister Amit Shah.(PTI)

“I personally feel that the situation in Bengal is much worse than what is required to enforce Article 356. However, our party has not taken a formal stand on this issue yet. Wait and see,” said Adhikari, who is slated to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday.

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Under Article 356 of the Constitution of India, in the event that a state government is unable to function according to Constitutional provisions, the Union government can take direct control of the state machinery.

“Those indulging in violence must remember that Bengal is a state in India and not an independent country,” Adhikari added.

Speaking on similar lines, BJP Lok Sabha member Arjun Singh demanded President’s Rule in the state. “The situation calls for immediate enforcement of Article 356. A time will come when people who are not able to save their families will retaliate,” he said.

The demand to impose Article 356, however, was not welcomed by BJP leader Rajib Banerjee who warned his party over a social media post that “people will not take kindly to threats of President’s Rule” against a government elected with a huge mandate.

Banerjee, a former state minister, had quit the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) to join BJP ahead of the polls. He, however, lost the polls to TMC’s Kalyan Ghosh from Domjur in Howrah district.

“People will not accept the constant threats of Delhi and imposition of Article 356 being posed to a government that has come to power with an overwhelming mandate. We should rise above politics and stand by people affected by the Covid pandemic and Cyclone Yaas,” Banerjee wrote on his social media page, hours after he skipped a crucial meeting of state office bearers called by state president Dilip Ghosh.

On Tuesday, TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee had said that several BJP leaders, including some who won the recent polls, were eager to join the ruling party.

At the meeting on Tuesday, Ghosh, who recently faced agitation by local leaders in two districts, formed a three-member committee to control dissidence in the ranks and monitor anti-BJP social media posts by party leaders.

On Monday, the BJP state leadership issued a show cause notice to Subir Nag, the former Hooghly district president, amid allegations that he engineered the agitation against the state unit chief.

“I do not know why our central leaders met Adhikari in Delhi. We will start a statewide agitation against post-poll violence from June 23 and meet President Ram Nath Kovind with a petition. More than 30,000 of our supporters have fled their homes and gone into hiding because of the terror unleashed by TMC. If people of the state demand Article 356, the Centre will have to think about it,” the state president said in Kolkata.

Another TMC turncoat and BJP leader Mukul Roy also skipped Tuesday’s meeting. “He could not come because his wife was admitted in hospital,” Ghosh said.

The TMC dismissed allegations of post poll violence and claimed that Adhikari’s meeting with the Union minister and top BJP leaders in Delhi was to save himself from Central Bureau of Investigation prosecution in the Narada sting tapes case.

“BJP’s strategy on the face of its depleting control is clear. BJP cannot fight TMC and Mamata Banerjee politically. Defeat stares them in the face all around. Hence, bogey of President’s Rule being raised in Bengal even by Tarpaulin Thief to divert attention. HIS MASTER’S VOICE !” TMC Rajya Sabha member Sukhendu Sekhar Roy tweeted.

Reacting to the dissidence in the BJP, Abhishek Banerjee said, “BJP leaders should put their house in order instead of bringing false allegations (against the state government).”

Meanwhile, a few TMC workers who joined the BJP prior to the polls at Labhpur in Birbhum district took to public address systems to say that they had committed a mistake (by switching) and would like to return to the ruling party.

During the polls, the BJP bagged only 77 of the 294 seats while the TMC won 213.

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