Manohar Parrikar has written a sharp letter to Mamata Banerjee on army controversy
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar has, in a stinging letter to Mamata Banerjee, said he is "deeply pained" by the Chief Minister's allegations over army exercises in Bengal last week and didn't expect it from "someone of your standing and experience".
Mamata Banerjee had objected to the presence of army men at toll plazas and had also asked out loud whether it was part of a some sort of coup attempt against her government.
"Your allegations run the risk of adversely impacting the moral of the country's armed forces and the same were not expected from a person of your standing and experience in public life," the Defence Minister says in his letter.
"Political parties and politicians may have the luxury of making wild and unsubstantiated allegations against each other but one needs to be extremely careful while referring to our armed forces," he adds.
In the evening, Ms Banerjee responded acerbically that the minister had "chosen to convey the laughable idea that you are the sole spokesperson on behalf of the people at large. I do not think that it behoves a Minister of the Union Government to pass near-defamatory remarks on a Chief Minister of any state and I trust you will rectify this attitude."
On December 1, as part of exercises across Bengal and several northeast states, the Army had deployed unarmed soldiers at checkpoints and toll plazas to note the movement of vehicles which could be diverted in case of a major disaster, military operation or war.
Soldiers at a toll plaza just 500 metres away from the Chief Minister's new secretariat in Kolkata infuriated her and she refused to leave her office until the army removed its troops. "I am waiting here at the Secretariat and watching, to guard our democracy," she tweeted. She left her office 30 hours later, long after the army had gone.
The Bengal government said that the army was denied permission to hold the exercises. The Army, however, produced correspondence with the state's police and civil administration, and also asserted that the exercises are held every year.
Read the full letter: