West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee today asked the home minister to take note of Trinamool Congress's nexus with Maoists, after P Chidambaram again pointed out that his query on armed cadre taking upon themselves the duties of maintaining law and order in the state remained unanswered.
"You are aware there is clinching evidence of the encouragement and support that the Maoists are getting from Trinamool Congress. Unfortunately, you have chosen not to mention this problem in your letter," the chief minister said in his reply to the two letters sent by Chidambaram yesterday.
Alleging that the Trinamool Congress was openly organising public meetings with Maoists, Bhattacharjee said, "It is a dangerous development of which serious note should be taken by your ministry."
He said, "So far your suggestion to disarm and demobilise armed cadre is concerned, I assure you that our policy is to take appropriate administrative steps against all armed groups who may try to disturb law and order."
On Chidamabaram's contention that the figures provided by the home ministry and that by the chief minister were in broad agreement, Bhattacharjee said that deaths resulting from political clashes in Maoist-hit areas clearly showed that CPI(M) workers were killed in a far greater number than Trinamool supporters.
Deploring deaths in clashes, irrespective of political affiliation, Bhattacharjee said violence was in no way justified.
Stating that he was trying his best to put a stop to such violence, he said "Unfortunately, TMC is not cooperating with the administration in this effort and you are fully aware of this."
Accepting Chidambaram's invitation to visit Delhi, Bhattacharjee said, "I will try to go as early as possible to meet you and discuss all the related issues."
The chief minister began his letter saying "I wanted not to open all correspondences to the media, but to discuss with you the problem when I meet you in Delhi.
"But as you have already released all your correspondences before us to the media, I feel compelled to write further on the issues raised by you. I have noted the reasons behind late arrival of the letter in my office, but I cannot accept the deliberate leakage of the letter to the press."
On Chidambaram's clarification that the word 'harmad' was not offensive and that he could use some other word suggested by the chief minister, Bhattacharjee said, "I am sorry I cannot offer you any such word since I am unable to accept your attitude towards the workers of the Left Front in our state, and also your observation regarding the failure of law and order in certain areas."
Stating that while he shared Chidambaram's anxiety on the ground situation in Maoist affected areas, he said, "I again assure that the situation is changing for the better.
"I told you earlier also when we met in Delhi that we had restored normalcy in vast areas affected by Maoist domination and the situastion has now further improved," the letter said.
