Citing decline in the law and order situation, West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Thursday summoned Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to brief him. The Governor took to social media saying that Opposition leaders were hunted out of public space “by partisan police acting as political workers”.
“Given enormity of decline in law and order @MamataOfficial has urged CM to urgently brief me. This as ..political leaders and opposition MPs and MLAs being virtually hunted out of public space by partisan police acting as political workers. This cannot be allowed in democracy,” Mr. Dhankhar said on Twitter.
In a video message, the Governor described the happenings in the State as a “grim situation”, an “alarming decline” and a “worrisome spectacle”. “We cannot afford to have a police that does not act in accordance with law but acts in a partisan manner like a political worker of the ruling party,” Mr. Dhankhar said in the video message.
The remarks by the Governor come at a time when relations between the State government and Raj Bhawan have hit a new low. Mr. Dhankhar recently met the Union Home Minister and had described governance in the State as being on a “cliff’s edge”.
The Chief Minister has accused Mr. Dhankar of being more critical of the State government than the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson.
Tension in Basirhat
Meanwhile, there was tension in the Haroa Police Station area of North 24 Parganas district’s Basirhat subdivision on allegations of a woman being sexually assaulted. Locals protested and tried to block roads over the incident.
“This gruesome gang rape of a destitute woman in Bashirhat’s Harauna ( Haroa) is a daily reminder of the law of the jungle that is in place in Bengal where the mighty eat the weak. These crimes against women in this State goes to show that the Mamata government has no mamta (maternal compassion),” BJP national secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya said.
According to the police, the medical report provides “no apparent sign of sexual assault”.
“Rumour is being spread since morning over an incident in Haroa PS area of Basirhat Police District. Medical Examination of the lady was done. No injuries except scratch marks on her back were found and as per the Medical Report there is ‘No apparent sign of sexual assault,” West Bengal police said in a tweet.
