Amit Shah releases ‘charge sheet’ against Mamata government

Kolkata: Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Amit Shah released a ‘charge sheet’ against the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Saturday, March 28, alleging that officials in West Bengal functioned as “cadres” of the government and were unable to work independently.

Addressing a press conference there, the Union Home Minister defended the Election Commission’s decision to transfer several IAS and IPS officers ahead of the Assembly polls. “Across the country, EC transfers officers ahead of polls. This is nothing new. But in West Bengal, most officers work for the government. That is why there have been more changes here,” Shah said.

“Because officers were changed, there was less violence during Ram Navami in the state this year. We do not support any form of violence,” he added.

His remarks come in the backdrop of violence in the Muslim-dominated Murshidabad district during Ram Navami celebrations on Friday.

Shah hit back at Banerjee over her criticism of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, claiming that West Bengal was the only state where the process had run into controversy.

“Why did the court have to appoint judicial officers only in West Bengal for the SIR process? Why was there no problem in Left Front-ruled Kerala or DMK-ruled Tamil Nadu?” Shah asked.

Sharpening the BJP’s campaign pitch, Shah alleged that after 15 years of TMC rule, West Bengal had become the country’s “principal corridor” for infiltration. He accused the ruling party of corruption, political violence, appeasement politics and administrative collapse.

He said the BJP would gradually spell out what it intended to do to end “misrule and anarchy” in the state.

What about Manipur? TMC counters Shah’s ‘chargesheet’

Hours after Shah’s press conference, the Trinamool Congress gave a strong counter to his “chargesheet” questioning the BJP-led Centre’s stance over the prolonged violence in Manipur, women’s safety in BJP-ruled states and its handling of illegal immigration.

Senior TMC leaders Mahua Moitra, Bratya Basu and Kirti Azad held a joint press conference where the trio targeted Shah over his criticism of the TMC government on women’s safety. “Amit Shah is talking about women’s security. What is the condition of women’s safety in BJP-ruled states?”

“Shah should first answer about violence in Manipur, which has bled continuously for the past three years,” TMC MP Moitra said.

The counter-charges came after Shah, earlier in the day, sharpened the BJP’s campaign for the West Bengal assembly elections, releasing a political “chargesheet” against the TMC government and framing the polls as a battle not merely for Bengal, but for the country’s security.

“BJP rules at the Centre. It rules 15 states and most border states through which infiltration is happening. Amit Shah himself is the Union Home Minister. So what exactly has he been waiting for?” senior TMC leader Bratya Basu said.

Questioning the Centre’s claims on infiltration, the West Bengal education minister asked why the Union Home Ministry had “failed” to identify and deport illegal immigrants.

“Why has the BJP-controlled Election Commission failed to release the names of foreign nationals found on the electoral rolls?” he asked.

In a separate statement, Basu alleged that the BJP was using the issue of infiltration to create divisions in Bengal.

“BJP wants to blur the line between Bengali and Bangladeshi so they can import their hateful Assam-style detention camp model into Bengal,” he alleged.

The TMC also accused the BJP of seeking to reap political mileage from the issue of infiltration while “failing” to act despite being in power at the Centre for over a decade.

According to the TMC, if infiltration remained a problem, the responsibility lay primarily with the Union government, which controls the country’s borders and security apparatus.